Not who we once were
by GossipLilyRufusxoxo
Summary: Story of what is going on with Deacon and Rayna in the present day. How Juliette is affecting their relationship. Snippets of Deacon's alcoholism. this story is not purely what is seen on tv and i may tweak the plot in order to maintain consistency in this story. Please review/follow/favourite i really appreciate it!
1. Chapter 1

'Can I have some privacy please?' Rayna demanded to her crew, and they left the room without another word.

Okay, she hadn't anticipated for it to come out that stand-offish but she was mad. How could the label do this to her? She was their shining star; the label would be nothing without her. Rayna slumped into the leather couch in her dressing room, the familiar, auto-tuned, songs of Juliette Barnes projected from the TV. 'Oh shut up!' She yelled, how could this blonde bimbo replace _her_, the queen of country? She didn't understand she had done everything the label had requested and not only that but made monumental sacrifices just to stay on top. Not to mention Deacon, he had put his life career on the line just to support her, she could never disappoint him. Rayna's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door, 'Ah great, just what I need' Rayna thought to herself.

'I thought I told you to leave me alone, I need privacy' she shouted. In less than a second, Deacon appeared in her dressing room; Rayna looked at him quizzically as if to ask 'how did you know I need you?'

'Hey Ray, I was just wondering if you wanted to come by the Bluebird, I'm performing' he greeted her, a smile stretched across his face, however he could sense that something was wrong, Rayna didn't have the usual sparkle in her eyes. He went to her side, kneeling down so that he could look up to her; like he always has. 'What's wrong? The concert was a great success and they loved you out there' a lump grew in Deacon's throat as 'loved' rolled off his tongue. 'I'm a failure.' Rayna sombrely replied. 'And I bet they loved Juliette Barnes more, why wouldn't they? She's young and pretty.' Her voice became more broken as she carried on and all she wanted was to go home and leave. 'What's this about?' Deacon queried, he hated to see Ray like this, it angered him, she shouldn't be like this, he had done everything to make her happy; well everything he could.

A few minutes passed, the pair stared at each other in silence, until Rayna broke the silence that is. 'They want me to open for Juliette Barnes, because my tour sales aren't enough, and I just feel like I am old stock and that they don't want me anymore. Its 'cause I'm old…and not as pretty as her' she explained. Deacon tensed, looked away, then faced her again, he didn't know how to respond, something which was happening on a regular basis nowadays, 'Rayna James-Conrad, look at me' he whispered and wiped the tear off her face. 'You lady, are the most beautiful, enigmatic woman I have ever met, and I'll be damned if a one hit wonder is to come and take that away from you.' Rayna stared at Deacon, and Deacon stared back, the tension between the two intensified. Rayna sat up, she knew she had to kill the butterflies in her stomach, she sat up and pulled back her hair and tucked it behind her ears. 'Thank you.' She mouthed and pecked him on the cheek; she knew she had to get home to Teddy and the girls. She got up and glided to the dressing room door, her fiery hair bouncing as she went. As Rayna reached the door Deacon jumped up 'What about bluebird then?' but he already knew the answer, and it wasn't what he was hoping for, Rayna simply shook her head and confirmed his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

GAP: RAYNA AND DEACON ON THE BRIDGE (MY VERSION)

'Hey Deacon, you got a sec?'

'For you I do' Deacon replied, he always had time for Rayna, no matter what happened.

As the pair walked out into the street a gush of wind blew Rayna's hair into her face and Deacon couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was, he had forgotten it was so enticing. He was pulled out his train of thought momentarily...

.. 'I'm sorry to drag you out of rehearsal; I know you wanted to go over that last song before tour.' Rayna apologised, she knew how Deacon was a perfectionist when it came to music, and it was one of the things that intrigued her about him. 'Don't worry about it Ray, I know how hard the industry is for you at the moment.' He answered her, trying to remain as tactful as possible when in fact he knew how her record wasn't doing as well as it could at the moment. 'Thank you for understanding, I just don't feel like I can talk about this to anyone, not even Teddy, but you, you understand _everything._' Rayna praised him, but they both knew the ulterior motive behind her saying, Deacon smiled and clapped her on the back. 'C'mon, let's take a walk?' he suggested, Rayna nodded and coyly knocked into him. Deacon smiled, he knew exactly how to cheer her up.

They two walked in silence for a while taking in the scenery and the fresh air, smiling ever so often just to remind each other how they cared. Deacon thought this may be the right time to confess to Ray about Juliette's offer, 'So. Err. Ray' he mumbled 'I thought I'd tell you sooner rather than later, but Juliette Barnes offered me a spot on her tour'. Rayna smirked; she knew something must've been up as Deacon had never been nervous around her- well not in that way anyways. There was an awkward pause between the former lovers, but then Rayna spoke again 'Agh!' Deacon laughed he could see the distaste in her voice. 'Is that jealousy I hear in your voice ?' he mocked, they laughed and Rayna rolled her eyes. 'Na, but really though Deacon, you're the best and I know I don't give you as much credit as I should but you really are great.' Rayna could feel the tension growing between them, they met each other's gaze, and once again they were in the same world, just the two of them, as they were when they were performing. They have, and always would have this nonverbal connection. That scared Rayna, it scared her like hell.

'Y'know I always wondered why you never cut more of my songs?' Deacon asked, Rayna felt a lump in a throat, she already knew the direction this conversation was going; and it was too late to stop it. 'I d'know, it felt weird, like maybe they were all 'bout me or something?' she imposed, not sure how exactly Deacon was going to respond as she was pretty sure she already knew the answer. Deacon starred at her, so much love in her eyes, he couldn't deny her the truth after all they had been through, 'you're right, they are. But I don't see how that makes a difference; if anything shouldn't they help you?' By now Rayna was confused. 'Maybe, but I…' she didn't know how to respond, she couldn't respond, he knew exactly why she couldn't sing those songs yet none of them were brave enough to say it. She looked at him profoundly, Deacon read her like a book, 'Listen, just answer one thing, if you could go back, do everything over. Would you?' he asked, Rayna gasped and he was puzzled once again by her answer. ' I don't know… would you?' Rayna replied, she thought this was ridiculous, she was obviously beating around the bush to say how they were feeling. 'Well, what would you change?' he said. Rayna knew what was the right answer, and what was the wrong answer, however she also knew what would be the right answer in her heart. ' Nothing.' She softly stated. Deacon swallowed, his eyes dropped as he stood there awkwardly, frown lines clearly appearing on his forehead and Rayna couldn't help but notice this, she met his eyes and tried to figure out what he was thinking, it was unknown to her that he was doing the exact same. A few seconds passed before Rayna gathered up the courage to answer truthfully. Deacon recognised it was that same word she had used earlier, and he knew exactly what she meant by it.

'_Everything'_


	3. Chapter 3

EPISODE 1X11

RAYNA ON PLANE

Rayna could not wait to be back in Nashville away from_ her, _she thought as she glared at Juliet from her side of the jet. Looking up from her magazine, Rayna saw Liam smirking at her.

"What?!" Rayna inquired, although she knew exactly what Liam was thinking because he was thinking the same as her. The pair continued to keep eye contact for a few seconds, their brief moment of PDA clearly hadn't made their partnership awkward. Well, it hadn't _yet._

'Hey Rayna, look at this,' Bucky pestered gravely, handing the queen of country that months edition of Rolling Stone. It was deacon, plastered across a double page spread. 'Discrete.' Rayna thought to herself, sure she was happy for Deacon that he was doing something he loved, but she didn't want to him to be too happy. Rayna read the headline. 'WHAT?! Deacon got fired!' Alarm bells rung in her head, and suddenly she had the entire planes' attention, including Juliet's'.

It can't be true, he wouldn't do that to her, after everything they've been through. After all the progress he had made, he wouldn't throw it all away; would he? Momentarily, Rayna caught Juliet's eye, and she could see the same look in her eye that she saw in her own pools of sapphire. And perhaps in that one, fraction of a second, the two had finally found common ground. Deacon.

RAYNA VISITS DEACON

As Rayna hopped out her charcoal SUV, she noticed that Deacon's street was not as warm, as welcoming, as it used to be. She could usually rely on this street as a sanctuary, but today something was different. She looked around and found Deacon on his porch.

Deacon noticed the mass of auburn hair spiral out the SUV; usually he would be more than happy to be with Rayna, but not today; not like this. 'The great Rayna James,' he hailed as he stood up and approached the 'FOR RENT' post he was about to fork in the ground. He really needed to get out of Nashville for a while, too much had happened in recent weeks and he couldn't face the embarrassment of failing, again. 'Whatcha doin' ?' Rayna coyly inquired. ' Erm just puttin' up this sign then im off to get ready for y'all number one party!' he replied, perhaps being less subtle then he would like about his attendance that night. 'You goin' to that?' Rayna questioned, cocktail parties had never been Deacon's ideal soiree, so why would he go now?

'Yeah, helping Juliet out with her mom y'know, no other reason.' He gingerly replied, Rayna was seething as she knew that they both knew that wasn't true. 'Why're ya' here Ray?' he asked, seeing how their frivolous conversation had dried up. ' I just wanted to check on you, you know, after the article and everything.' She honestly was worried about him, the idea of him spiralling out of control scared the shit out of her.

'Look er, Rayna, that article was a bunch of crap, don't think for a second that I would do anything to jeopardise myself.' He argued, trying his best to remain calm. Rayna pulled him out of his train of thought, 'Yea, I know, loada' crap. D'you wanna talk about it?' she tenderly asked. 'What's there to talk about? Nothing's going on; it's not 12 years ago so luckily for you I'm not your problem anymore.' He hissed. Okay, so he hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh. No wait, he had. Why should she, after all this time, come to check on him? She clearly wasn't bothered then, if she was she wouldn't have gone off and married Mr Mayor. She would have waited. Why didn't she wait?

Rayna took a step back; she had NEVER heard Deacon talk that way to her. Even now, after everything they had been through, she could always rely on his understanding. What had changed? Oh yeah, she knew what. Suddenly, Deacon turned his back on her and began to walk into the house. 'HEY!' Rayna shouted 'Get back here! Why are you so angry with me?!'Deacon rolled his eyes and smirked in disbelief.

'Why am I angry with you? Maybe it's because every time I turn around y'all firing or breaking up or leavin' me, tellin me I need to go find what's around the next bend or some crap like that.' He jeered. Now Rayna was hurt, 'You know I only want you to be happy.' She squeaked, it had taken her most of her courage to even reply to that sentence. 'Oh you mean like you are with Teddy?' he smirked, knowing full well about their domestic issues. It wasn't that long ago that she had come to him for advice on what to do about his cheating. Oh yeah, his cheating. 'By the way Ray, did you ever find out if he cheated or not?' he asked, really twisting the knife by now. Rayna just froze, she could barely bring herself to speak, and how could someone whom she loves so much be this cruel? She mentally slapped herself for even asking that as deep down she knew that she deserved it. After an awkward pause, she regained her train of thought, 'He wasn't, he would never.' Deacon raised an eyebrow; they both knew that wasn't true. ' Well, I guess you made the right choice then didn't ya Ray?' he knew he should quit while he was at it, but he needed answers, he needed to know why _his_ Rayna abandoned him, lost faith in him, and moved on. Her life with Teddy should have been their life, not his. They were meant to be a family, forever. They had once talked about growing old together, sitting by the fire pit still singing their original songs. That was over.

'Just stop it okay, you know I didn't have much choice in that matter. You couldn't stay sober for more than five minutes. How many times did I go looking for you, finding you in hotel rooms not knowing if you were drunk off your ass or dead. How was I supposed to know that the fifth time into rehab was going to stick. So forgive me in choosing to have a solid, stable life.' Rayna was livid; she never thought she would ever have to say that to him. 'You lost faith in me. All I know is you shipped me off to rehab and by the time I got out you two were running off to get married. You were supposed to wait for me.' Deacon was beyond hurt by now, he hadn't expected to hear the things Rayna was saying, and he flinched as he replayed 'You couldn't stay sober for more than five minutes' because subconsciously, whether he would admit it or not, he knew she was right.

'Don't you dare say I lost faith in you, I didn't then and I sure as hell haven't now? You got sober. You proved you could do it. But it is conversations like this that mean I can't do this with you Deacon.' She protested. 'Do WHAT Rayna? We aren't doing anything because you fired ME. Remember?' Rayna just stood point blank and shook her head, they both knew what. 'If you don't like it. Don't do it.' He patronised, shaking his head as he walked back into his home. Rayna was left in the cold.


	4. Chapter 4

As Rayna boarded Juliet's jet, she thought about yesterday's events, Deacon and Teddy. She longed to have the stability back in her marriage, she needed it, more importantly ; the girls needed it. They needed to know everything would continue to be perfect; that mommy and daddy were in love, and nothing would ever change. Deep down Rayna knew she had to try make it work with Teddy, she did love him, he was sweet and kind and he doted on her every need. However she was not sure if she was_ in love_ with him. Then there was Deacon, she shouldn't have been so harsh on him yesterday, but he needed to know how she felt about the matter. 'He shouldn't have snapped' she thought. She had done everything for him, taken care of him when no one else would- and Deacon knew this. Just because she had opened the bottle of suppressed feelings doesn't mean she loved him any less , she just wished he would take some responsibility for his actions instead of turning the blame on her. His reaction was not appropriate to her curiosity.

Rayna's daydreaming was momentarily lapsed by the sound of Juliet's exasperation, 'Finally, it's about time,' she huffed.

'Yeah sorry to keep you waiting your highness,' Rayna smirked, shooting a smile to Bucky.

Forget it; we're just waitin' on one more.' Juliet deviously smiled, Rayna felt uncomfortable but shook it off.

'Hey Buck,' Rayna signalled to Bucky, ' be a doll and put these down for me while I go powder my nose?' Bucky unloaded YE several pieces of luggage was sporting before settling into the leader couch below him. Rayna thanked him before turning into the bathroom. She wondered who Juliet was waiting up for, 'probably her fake boyfriend for the month' she chuckled to herself. Then out of nowhere she heard something she really wished she hadn't; 'Hey y'all'. It was Deacon.

'Crap,' she thought to herself, of all the guitarists, in all of the USA, Bucky had to hire Deacon as Liam's replacement. She didn't want to hear him, let alone be in the same plane as him. 'Remain calm,' she thought to herself, it was only Deacon. 'Who am I kidding' she thought to herself, all these unresolved feelings in a tin can at 30,000ft, she was doomed.

Rayna unlocked the door to the toilet, she pretended not to notice Deacon starring at her, but it secretly pleased her that she had his undivided attention. Snapped back into reality, Rayna shot a look at Bucky 'I cannot believe you hired him without consulting with me first.' She snapped, clearly irritated. Bucky looked confused, he obviously didn't realise to whom Rayna was referring to. Then it hit him.

'Ohhhh...'he let out, before realising how pissed Rayna looked, 'dont look at me I would nev-'

He was cut off by Juliet's over enthusiastic interruption 'Thats because I did.' She said sweetly- enjoying the look of despair plastered on Rayna's face.

'Why?' Rayna naively asked. She presumed it was part of her plan for world domination. 'Shit' Rayna thought.

'Because he's the best, and I'm the best; it's a perfect match of you asked me.' She fluttered her eyelashes so that she wasn't being rude, but Rayna could see right through her.

'Whatever gets you to sleep at night darlin'.' Rayna quipped rolling her eyes in sheer amazement at how vapid Juliet was being. Juliet groaned in disgust, before dramatically flipping her pony tail to tell Rayna she wasn't interested.

Rayna shook her head. Clearly Juliet's melodramas were nothing, she was just being childish. She turned around to find Bucky fixated on her, puzzling over what was going on. 'Whats gotten into you?' He pried.

Rayna let out a sigh, she knew that Bucky would understand, he had seen her through everything and was like a brother to her. Rayna knew she could tell him anything. 'Its just er, teddy and I have been having a few problems lately and I...i Erm went to go talk to Deac about it, as per. Except when I got there and saw him all my martial issues vanished. All I wanted to do was make sure he was ok Buck. But when I got there...' Rayna shook her head, she was working herself up now, her eyes had glazed over and became red and irritable. Bucky rested his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. She continued, whispering so no unwanted attention was received, 'anyways, when I got there, he just snapped on me Buck. On ME! When does he ever do that? He started grilling me about my marriage, whether I was happy or not. He just pounced on me ya' know? Tellin' me that I wasn't there fire him, that I abandoned him, but I didn't! I would never! This is mean and Deacon for christ's sake. We don't do that to each other.'

By now Rayna had turned a sickly green, she didn't feel like continuing but it felt good to get this off her chest, she had no one else to turn to. ' you know why I had to marry Teddy, don't you Buck?' She quizzed, hoping he understood why she did what she did.

Bucky reassured her, 'Yeah I do, but he might not.' He gestured discretely over to Deacon. 'However, I do think you two need to sort out your issues. It has been twelve years, don't you think you two need to call it a day and move on?' He queried. Rayna knew Bucky was right, if she was ever going to work things out with Teddy she had to call it quits with Deacon; once and for all.

An hour or so passed; Bucky was asleep with his mouth slightly ajar, letting out a faint snore every so often. By now; Juliet had gotten bored of discussing what go buy, her manager was bored of arguing budgets and Deacon, frankly, was bored of the lot of them. He just wanted to have a conversation with someone where he could offer his input. He glanced over to Rayna and Bucky, Rayna was off limits for the time being as he didn't know quite yet how to approach her. But Bucky, who had just been swatted awake by the redhead next to him, would be up for a round of cards.

'Hey Buck!' Deacon called, waving the deck in his hands, 'Fancy a quickie?' He soon realised by the shocked look on the faces around him that he should have phrased that differently. 'No guys, I meant do you want a quick game of cards?'

Usually, Rayna would have scoffed at the euphemism. But she was no longer speaking to deacon, which meant that Bucky was no longer speaking to him. 'NO..' Rayna mouthed repeatedly to Bucky, but he just shrugged at gestured for Deacon to join them.

'Hey Ray,' Deacon smiled, clearly aware at how uncomfortable his presence was for her, ' you wanna play? You always were an early surrenderer.' He toyed, from the awkward looks that transpired through Rayna and Bucky, he knew that she had detected the ulterior meaning.

'Excuse me!' She declared, rising from the table and stalking off into the bathroom. Once confined in the toilet, she sought comfort in the first privacy she had gotten all day. She needed to cry; badly. A the tears came out, she thought of why Deacon would betray her to such extent. He knew that she would be more pissed by him joining Juliet's band than by him sleeping with Juliet. She couldn't deny him a love life because they ended theirs, she had one with Teddy now. But joining her band was down right low! Deacon was HER guitarist, forever.

Rayna looked at herself in the jewel embossed vanity mirror 'Tacky' she thought to herself, Juliet may be able to buy a plane, but she could never buy class. That didn't matter, because Rayna was shocked when she saw how fatigued her reflection was. All the drama has begun to take its toll; for the first time, she looked tired. Rayna began to touch up her make up, however she was unable to finish due to the irritating knocks at the door.

'What!?' Rayna yelled, extremely agitated that someone had caused her to draw a line of mascara over her cheekbone.

'Erm it's me.' It was deacon. 'Great' she thought sarcastically.

'Just a sec'.' She called, desperately trying to erase the black line on her face, before opening the door slightly. 'What do you want?'

'To talk?' Deacon replied quietly, it was quite evident he had stepped off the High horse he rode in on, Rayna thought.

'Okay then, talk?' She quipped, annoyed it had taken him this long to speak decently to her.

' Not like this Rayna, open the door.' He instructed.

' you actually think I'd let you alone with me?' She scoffed in disbelief.

'No, I don't expect anything of the sort. Clearly you don't want to be alone with me, and frankly I don't want to be alone with you, after yesterday. But we need to sort this out. We are gonna be tourin' together and we can't be having this.' He reasoned.

Rayna opened the door fully and stepped out into the two man alcove at the front of the jet. Their bodies were only inches away from one another. ' okay so what did you wanna say then.' Rayna pressed, she was curious why he was even talking to her in the first place.

' I-I just wanted you to know that I didn't just join Juliet's band to piss you off. It was a contributing factor, but I need this Rayna. I need the music.' He stuttered.

'That's it?' Rayna shrugged, unimpressed with the lack of sincerity in his answer. ' he was meant to have apologised' she thought to herself.

'What do you mean "that's it" ' he mocked.

'You're meant to be apologising for how awful you were to me yesterday.' She asserted. Deacon straightens up and placed is hands on his hips and simultaneously Rayna crossed her arms across her chest; creating distance between the two of them.

'Apologise? Me? You got some nerve Rayna.' He retaliated, growing evermore fearsome. The two were no longer having a private conversation but neither seemed to care that they had an audience.

'Yeah you better; you were the one who was vile. I only came over to see you because we were all worried about you and somehow I though I would be the one to get through to you. It's not like we dated or anything...' An element of sarcasm had entered the conversation now and she waved her arms in the air to signal her annoyance.

'Dated!?' He spat. 'We dated?! It was a little more than that Ray. I don't believe you. You should never have come to see me.' He bellowed. This upset Rayna, she thought that after everything they had been through be would understand that she would always be here for him. However that didn't seem to be the case with them anymore.

' Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe I should have sent little miss sparkly pants over there.' She pointed to Juliet, who at this moment in time was in awe of the two.

'Yeah maybe you should, at least she cares about me.'

'I do care about you.' She flustered, a crease developed in between her eyebrows as she began to cry.

'Oh yeah?' Deacon patronised. 'Why don't you start acting like it then? Or are you worried about what Teddy might think? We all know that ship had sailed Rayna.' He glared at her.

'You know it's not that simple.' She murmured.

'Thats the problem with you Rayna, nothing is EVER simple.' He grimaced.

Rayna wasn't even sure how to reply she was so damaged by the conversation that had just transpired. She couldn't even contemplate a retaliation, she just stood, alone, shaking and wiping away her tears.


	5. Chapter 5

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS. I REALLY APPRECIATE AND TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION WHAT YOU ALL THINK ABOUT MY FF. IM VERY SORRY BUT IN THIS CHAPTER THERE IS NOT A LOT OF DEACON/RAYNA CONVERSATION BUT IT IS MORE THEIR THOUGHTS. THIS IS SO I DO NOT RUIN FUTURE CHAPTERS BASED ON 1x12. **

**-Phoebe.**

Rayna, Juliet, Deacon, Bucky and Glen had spent the long ride from the airport to the hotel in silence. None of them had much to say to one another after the more than awkward journey from Nashville to Kansas City. Rayna and Bucky were situated to one end of the limo, whilst Juliet, Deacon and Glen dominated the other, and even though they were separate, they were all beginning to notice the tension in the atmosphere increasing radically.

Finally, after a good forty minutes, Bucky broke the silence, 'So have we decided on a set list yet Rayna?' he enquired, well aware at the fact that set lists were the last thing on Rayna's mind.

Rayna groaned in response, 'No, not yet. I don't think I'm in a position to show y'all my new material without Liam playing back up,' she replied.

Much to his dismay, Deacon's attention was diverted to Rayna's conversation, he wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was interested on her work with Liam, he wanted to know if her work would ever be as good without him. However, he would strongly deny this if ever asked, so he continued to glaze over the trivial magazine article he was reading about the tour.

Juliet was sick of hearing Rayna's voice by now; she wasn't even sure how she was meant to continue this tour for another five months. Clearly, she wasn't the only one thinking this she thought to herself after reading the look of duress on Deacon's face. 'I may as well have some fun on this tour, just because Mrs Mayor over there is off her zanex, doesn't mean that I have to suffer,' she thought to herself. Juliet turned to face Deacon, a devious smile spreading across her face, 'Speaking of set lists,' she chirped, 'whereabouts are we adding Undermine in?' she glistened.

Rayna's mouth performed a perfect 'O', she could honestly not believe Juliet had brought that up in front of her, she was just thankful that Deacon had more self-respect than to continue their display of affection towards one another, or so she thought…

'What?' Deacon enquired joyfully, 'we're actually gonna perform it, you're not worried about what y'all fans might think of it, being untested material 'nd all?' Deacon smiled. The difference between Juliet and Rayna, he thought to himself, is that Rayna was almost too happy to not play his songs, she knew and understood that they were about her, they would always be about her, but that doesn't mean she needs to feel embarrassed about performing them, it's not like the rest of the world understood the messages behind them. Juliet, on the other hand, recognised artistic interpretation, and understood the hard work he had to put in just to pay his bills; after all she had once had to the same.

Rayna just stared at the two in disbelief, unbeknown to her that Deacon was actually staring at her from the corner of his eye. He wanted Rayna to know how it feels to be replaced, like she had done to him time after time; first with Teddy and then with Liam. Uneasiness churned inside of Rayna, she hadn't really thought about what performing her and Deacon's songs would be like with him watching from backstage. She wasn't sure how she was meant to react with whatever replacement Bucky had found her, it was easier with Liam because she felt comfortable with him. 'Two strangers on stage together do not make for a good performance,' she thought to herself.

Rayna focused her attention back to Bucky 'Erm I was just thinking we'd do my new material first, maybe open with Buried Under, then ill close with the classics y'know,' she discussed, Bucky's progressive nodding indicated he was thinking the exact same thing. 'You gonna be okay up there?' he questioned, reaching out to hold her hand for moral support before slightly turning to signal to Deacon, reassuring her it would all work out. 'I don't know Buck…' she murmured,' but I gotta' suck it up and get on with it, I've got a show to do.'

'That's ma girl.' Bucky smiled.

The duration of the journey was spent talking clothing and reviewing the past performances before the two women decided who was going to go on first. Finally, after a solid hour of protest, Juliet agreed to open the show with Rayna closing it.

'This is gonna be good.' Rayna thought to herself, starring at Deacon who was engrossed in a magazine. She was gonna make sure that he'd acknowledge the fact she could continue on without him.

_RAYNA/BUCKY/DEACON/JULIET BACKSTAGE AT REHEARSALS_

Juliet had just wrapped on her half of the show and Rayna couldn't wait to get on stage and rehearse. The stage was the only place where she truly belonged, where no one could judge her or question her talent; after all s_he _was the real queen of country. The rehearsals had kicked off with 'Wrong Song' and Rayna couldn't help notice Juliet being over attentive to Deacon during the performance, she knew that Juliet was doing it to be malicious and even though Juliet and Deacon were no longer sleeping together, it hurt Rayna to see him interact with Juliet on stage. And it wasn't just Rayna who had picked up on the nervous energy; the whole crew seemed to be on edge today.

Rayna was momentarily snapped out of her train of thought by one of the Techs, 'You're all set up Ms Jaymes, and we are ready when you are.' He informed her, handing her the white microphone she had chosen to use. 'Thanks Billy,' she said, reading his name off the tag placed prominently in the middle of his shirt.

Deacon watched Rayna spin onto the stage, he wasn't meant to be watching her rehearsal, but his curiosity got the better of him, he wanted to know what she was like now that he was no longer band leader.

'Okay y'all,' Rayna cooed, 'we're gonna start with Buried Under and then go onto I'm Already Gone and then bring it back down with No One Will Ever Love You, if that's all right with y'all.' She instructed, taking her place over the clearly marked 'X' on the floor. As Rayna began to sing, Deacon couldn't help but think back to the days when he used to be at her side on stage, he had always been in awe of her capability to let loose and be free on stage, today however, something felt different; her smile wasn't as bright and there was a twinge of sadness to her voice. He knew that the crew wouldn't pick up on this, they didn't know Rayna the way _he _knew her, and they didn't know what she meant when she sung the lyrics to the melodies the two of them had written two decades ago.

Rayna finished I'm Already Gone and was preparing for No One Will Ever Love You, she massaged her neck in preparation. She was nervous about performing this for the first time since she and Deacon had sung that night at the Blue Bird, but she knew she couldn't put the song away forever. The fans loved it, and frankly, so did she and it was a perfect way to give Deacon the message that she still cared, that she would always care.

'Ok y'all, take it from the top.' She ordered, as the first cord began to chime. A lump grew in Deacon's throat as he watched Rayna sing, he regretted the things he had said to her on the plane. He just needed to get all the repressed feelings off his chest, he needed her to know that along with all the love, came the deep, deep hurt. He needed her to know how he felt the day she married Teddy. The day she gave up on him forever.

'She needed to know what it felt to lose the most important thing.' He muttered to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

Rayna had spent the last two weeks on tour with Juliet& Co. The 'Red Lips, White Lies' tour was officially in full swing, and it killed Rayna to admit it, she was actually appreciating the new attention from Juliet's fans. However, she had _not_, thrilled about the fact Deacon was here, he had barely spoken two sentences to her since their less-than friendly conversation on the plane. As Rayna stepped out the SUV she was greeted by a swarm of freaking teenagers, and frankly, she was surprised most of them new her name, they were in Chicago after all.

'RAYNAAAA!' she heard dozens of cheering fans scream as she turned around, discarding the miserable face that she had been sporting behind the scenes.

'Hey y'all,' she waved, walking up to the barrier, with Juliet, to sign autographs.

'Are you pissed I hired Deacon?' Juliet quipped angelically; it was obvious to Rayna that Juliet already knew the answer. Rayna however was not going to give Juliet the satisfaction of this.

'Pissed? Why would I be pissed,' she replied, 'I did fire him after all, he can do what he wants for all I care.' Rayna desperately hoped that Juliet would be quick to believe the BS pouring out her mouth.

'Well that's not a big plane and you didn't make eye contact with me once after Deacon boarded.' Juliet argued.

'Did you ever maybe think that I didn't make eye contact with you because I don't like you?' Rayna retaliated half-heartedly, she wasn't tryna' be bitchy but she wasn't in the mood to deal with Juliet right now.

'Hmm okay, you sure it doesn't get to you that he's on ma' tour and not yours?' Juliet responded, twisting the knife even more now.

Rayna raised her eyebrows in disbelief; she could not comprehend the tenacity of this girl, 'who does she actually think she is?' Rayna thought to herself, Juliet knew nothing about her and Deacon's situation and if she did she would not be so quick to judge. 'Why don't y'all just grow up?' Rayna stated, shrugging her shoulders, and pushing on her Ray Bans, as she stalked off into the hotel.

Once inside the lobby, Rayna slung her arm around Bucky's shoulders; leaning in so that their conversation would remain between the two of them. 'What do ya think he's really doing on this tour?' Rayna puzzled, they both knew without mentioning his name who she was talking about.

'I d'know, we've been over this a hundred times,' Bucky wined, 'why don't you just ask him?'

'HELL NO!' Rayna exclaimed, 'I'm not goin' out on a whim to talk to him, I can't be doing with any Deacon Claybourne dramarama right now, y'know I still haven't told Teddy he's here.'

As the pair approached the check-in-desk, Bucky turned steadily to face Rayna, holding strong and serious eye contact. 'Listen Rayna, you say you wanna work things out with Teddy, yet you didn't call to tell him Deacon was here as soon as we touched down in Kansas City- and that was four days ago.'

Rayna grimaced, she had heard this all before and it was beginning to sound like a broken record. She knew that Bucky was right, if she was set on fixing her marriage she had to rebuild the communication between her and Teddy. Finally, after a good minute of deep thinking, Rayna knew what she had to do. 'All right Buck, as soon as I get this key imma' go up to my suite and call Teddy,' she decided, 'he deserves the truth.' Bucky clapped her on the back as a sign of good luck. The reception clerk handed Rayna the key to the penthouse and wished her good luck for the show. Rayna thanked him politely before jogging off to catch the elevator that was about to close…

…' Hey hold the elevator!' Rayna yelled, clearly the person inside had chosen not to hear her as she almost lost a hand and several fingers before hopping in. 'Oh, it's you.' She greeted Deacon sternly, it was typical that he would intercept her before she called Teddy; he always managed to direct her thoughts to him whenever she needed to make an important decision. Deacon very obviously ignored Rayna and turned his head away so that he was now looking down, Rayna rolled her eyes at how childish he was behaving. The tension in the elevator was nothing like Rayna had ever experienced, unlike on the plane, there was only the two of them with nowhere to hide. Deacon clearly felt like the best thing to do was ignore Rayna and well, Rayna couldn't help but be curious to what he was thinking. She tried to read his facial expressions, glancing over to him every so often, but was shocked to find that he didn't have any. He just stood motionless and unresponsive.

To say that Rayna was relieved when Deacon exited the elevator on floor seven would be putting things lightly. In fact, she had never encountered such a hostile situation, except perhaps the first rehearsal back after marrying Teddy…that was pretty awkward, she thought to herself. 'Oh shit.' Rayna subconsciously exclaimed, she had gotten too caught up in the moment to even remember the long overdue phone call to her husband. As the doors to her floor opened, Rayna quickly stepped out before approaching the door to her penthouse. Swiping the key-card through the lock she over dramatically sighed as she pushed open the door. She left a tip on the console, in the hallway, for the concierge who had sporadically managed to escort her luggage to the suite before her arrival. Taking a few moments to fully take in the panorama views objectified in front of her, Rayna thought about the girls; how much she missed them and what they would be doing now if they were with her.

Pulling out her phone she dialled Teddy's cell number, an increasingly large knot formed inside of her. For once, she was actually apprehensive of her husband. The phone rang a couple of times before Teddy picked up.

'Hey.' He said sternly.

'Hi.' Rayna replied…this was so awkward, it shouldn't be, he is her husband for christ's sake. 'Erm, im calling because I think we should talk.'

'Oh you mean about Deacon?' Teddy ironically answered, it suddenly dawned on Rayna that Teddy may have seen Deacon board the jet and therefore knew he was on tour with them- sorry on tour with Juliet.

'You mean you knew?' she gawped, slightly concerned about what Teddy's reaction may be.

'Of course I knew Rayna,' Teddy spat, ' you actually want me to believe it is all some coincidence that you say you need time to think about us and then deacon magically appears on your tour.'

'That's the thing. He's not on my tour Teddy! He's here for Juliet… and she's not let me forget it.' Rayna trailed off, muttering the last seven words under her breath so Teddy wouldn't hear.

'Whatever Rayna, you think I'd be used to this by now. I should have known better.'

'Listen Teddy, like I said at the airport, we are still married which means I still respect the marital guidelines and I would NEVER do anything to jeopardise that or our daughters' happiness okay?!' she protested, she didn't even know why she was fighting so hard but what Teddy was insinuating made her feel cheap and dirty.

'Ok-Ok, look Rayna, I really have to go I have a meeting at city hall; I'll call you later.' Teddy answered, hanging up straight away, no 'I love you' or anything.

Rayna let out a long, deep, sigh of exasperation, through her phone at the wall and sunk into the leather corner piece.

_RAYNA / DEACON AFTER SHOW_

'Hey Deacon,' Rayna called sweetly, she really needed him to help out her new guitarist who was having trouble mastering the cords.

Deacon turned around to face Rayna, still as expressionless as he was in the elevator. 'What's up?' he asked.

'Well erm, I was actually wondering if you could help out ma new guitarist on that little bit before 'I'm already gone'. She was havin' some trouble with that on stage.' Rayna asked.

'Oh, erm ,yeah sure.' Deacon replied, turning away before Rayna could get a word in edgewise. However, Rayna still managed to get what she really wanted to know off her chest.

'What are you doing here Deacon?' she interrogated, extremely invested in what is answer would be.

'What do you mean?' he asked, although they both knew exactly what she meant, he was just trying to act like he didn't know to prove he didn't care.

'I think you know exactly what I mean, last time we spoke you were getting ready to pack up and move out of Nashville… and now you're well, here.' She explained honestly.

'Well I just play guitar for people who pay me money.' He stated casually. Rayna flinched; she was a little hurt and could now see how damaged Deacon was. He had just told her he only sees music as a job, when in fact, it meant so much more to him. Music was his life; music was their life. And Deacon had just discarded that like last season's news.

'Well to be honest, it is a little awkward, y'know having you here.' Rayna expressed, not realising what she had said until it was too late.

Deacon looked down hard before he answered, 'Well I will stay out your way then.' He answered and left abruptly, leaving Rayna shocked in the doorway to her dressing room.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is the second chapter based around 1x12. Enjoy! and thank you for all the reviews keep me updated on what you would like me to write about.**

**-Phoebe**

Rayna replayed the blissful sound of Scarlett O'Connor in her mind; she had been unable to think of anything else since Watty gave her the demo at lunch. To be honest, Rayna wasn't surprised that Scarlett was so talented; after all, she was Deacon's niece. As Rayna sat in the back of the SUV, on her way back to the hotel, she thought about how quickly time has moved on, and how strange it was to see Scarlett all grown up. It wasn't that long ago when she thought Scarlett would be her niece, she did used to spend various summers with her and last fall was the first time she had seen her in years. Rayna was pulled out her daydream by her chauffer who politely signalled that they had arrived at the hotel and simultaneously Rayna clambered out the SUV and thanked him for his services.

Strolling through the lobby, Rayna was extra cautious to where Deacon may be lurking, their last conversation had been pretty awkward and Rayna didn't have the answers she needed from him. When the elevator doors opened, Rayna was relieved to see that this time Deacon was not there, meaning she had some time to think about what she was going to say to him next. She boarded the elevator but her journey was momentarily paused by a passenger joining her. 'Great.' Rayna thought. She knew this was bound to happen; the passenger had a tall, dark physique she knew all too well.

Deacon blanked Rayna, he didn't even say hi as he got in. 'Ohh mature,' Rayna thought to herself, rolling her eyes in exasperation. As the two rode together in silence, the tension became increasingly uncomfortable, Rayna decided that she would be the mature one and break the ice.

'Hey what's going on with Scarlett? Watty played me her demo and that girl has some lungs on her. She was amazin' clearly inherited your talent.'

Deacon ignored her, and like their previous journey, kept his head down as if he didn't know Rayna at all.

'Oh all right, if this is how things are gonna be Deacon. At least have the courtesy to say something to me. '

Again Deacon ignored her, clearly everything she was saying was garbage to him and didn't matter, and therefore she didn't see why she should stay diplomatic about the situation.

'You havin' fun on the tour? Never thought I'd see the day you'd be singing Boys 'N' Busses with Juliet Barnes but hey life never ceases to amaze.'

Deacon shot Rayna a look as if to say 'give it a rest'. But Rayna couldn't help herself she needed the real reason why he had come on this tour, and he be damned if he thought she believed his crap about needing the money; his whole two weeks with the Revel Kings had him set for life.

'Deacon I just need to kn…' However Rayna was cut off before she could finish her question, the elevator had reached the twelfth floor, Deacon sped out and Rayna knew what this meant; he was going to see Juliet. And once again Rayna felt the severe stab of jealousy in the pit of her stomach.

RAYNA/DEACON KISS SCENE.

Watty Wyatt has always been Rayna's voice of reason; her Jiminy Cricket. This meant that she always listened very carefully to what he had to say. Today was no different. She understood that time apart from Deacon was what she needed to keep her marriage, but after seeing him on stage with Juliet she was now surer than ever to what she needed. She needed Deacon back, she needed her lead guitarist and she needed her friend more than anything. This did not mean, however, that she was going to go crawling back to him and putt all their issues behind them. She needed to know the real reason why. Why he'd cavort around right in front of her with someone else. Rayna needed to know the real reason why Deacon was on _this_ tour.

Rayna waited patiently in the elevator, thankful that she had some time to think and just be at ease with herself. Peace transpired through the elevator, until it was rocked by the all too familiar bounding that was Deacon Claybourne. Rayna's heart sped up a little as she saw him board the elevator.

She tipped her head back and laughed to herself 'Why does this keep happening to us?'

Once again Deacon just ignored her. Something was obviously troubling him because the vein in his forehead was doing backflips. Rayna was pretty pissed now, she hadn't even had the opportunity to aggravate him today so what the hell was he playing it.

'Can I just ask you something? What the HELL are you doing on this tour?'

Deacon ignored her, frowning.

'Deacon. Deacon?'

Before Rayna realised what was going on, Deacon forced himself onto her, their mouths crashed against one another and a juggernaut of electricity transpired between the two of them. And in no time at tall they were transported back to the days when this was a regular thing. Rayna however, needed to know what was going on and remain in control of the situation. She leaned away from deacon who still held her tightly.

'I- I – need to know what you're..'

Deacon tensed and took back control 'Rayna. I am done talking.' He asserted. He pushed himself back onto her and Rayna rang her hands through his hair, before tracing the intricate details of deacon's back that she had missed so dearly. As they continued to share their passion, Deacon thought about what Glenn had said; 'Stop trying to turn Juliet into your new Rayna'. And he knew that Glenn was wrong, for no one could replace Rayna, she was the Bonnie to his Clyde and nothing would ever change that. Before the pair could take it to the next level, they were interrupted for the last time by the bell to signal that they had reached Deacon's floor. He frantically removed himself from Rayna and bolted, without a word, Rayna lingered mouth opened and in shock of what had just occurred.


	8. Chapter 8

**Guys I am sooooooo sorry it has taken me so long to upload this chapter, but i am in Miami on holiday right now so i have been a little busy sunbathing etc. I hope you like it and I will upload the next chapter as soon as i get back to England. Thank you so much for the reviews they really keep me motivated to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)))**

Rayna paced back and forth through her apartment, trying to maintain the memory of what had just happened. She hadn't felt raw passion like that for almost twelve years, and she missed it; a lot.

After several minutes of her conscience debating over what to do, Rayna plucked up the courage to talk to Deacon. Whipping out her phone she brought up his number and sent him a text'

_Talk? PH1._

Rayna realised what she had done, Deacon didn't do texts. He didn't reply but her iPhone recognised he had read it and if she knew Deacon, which she did, she knew he would be at her door in a matter of minutes.

Deacon heard his phone vibrate from the opposite end of the bed; he had spent the evening wallowing in his misery. He had kissed Rayna. She had kissed him back. It was epic, so why did something feel so wrong? He groaned as he sat up and lent forward to get his phone, he really didn't do texting, he couldn't comprehend how it was an efficient form of communication, a phone call would do.

It was Rayna, his heart sped up a little, obviously they were both in hot water and he didn't want to over step the boundary; who was he kidding? He had overstepped the boundary when he kissed her in the elevator. He had overstepped the boundary when he had spat at her last week. And he had overstepped the boundary when he made her sing No One Will Ever Love You. What's once more gonna do?

Deacon got up off the bed, snagged his phone and proceeded out the suite. He got in the elevator and pushed the button to take him to the Penthouse floor. Only this time, he was going to see Rayna; NOT Juliet.

Meanwhile in Rayna's Penthouse, Rayna was deliberating what she would say to Deacon. He had asserted her that he was done talking, that he didn't want to rehash old memories and heart break; but it had to be done. If they were ever going to move forward they needed to heal all the wounds they had given each other in order to have the slightest chance at anything again. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, withdrawing Rayna from her thoughts, she strided over to the door and thought about how she was going to greet Deacon. Would a hug be too awkward after what had just occurred?

To say that Rayna was surprised to see who was at the door would be putting things lightly. It was not Deacon, but instead a man of similar build, brown hair and penetrating brown eyes she knew all too well; it was Teddy. Rayna's mouth formed a perfect O and her eyes bulged out her head.

'Surprise!' Teddy called.

As Deacon exited the elevator he noticed a man stood hovering outside Rayna's penthouse. It was Teddy.

'So can I come in?' he heard Teddy ask.

'Sure, you've come all this way.' Rayna replied, a twinge of guilt in her voice, smiling ever so slightly. She had completely forgotten Teddy had even existed after the kiss with Deacon. It was like she and Deacon were in their own world and no one else mattered; Rayna knew that it was too good to be true. However, Teddy was her husband and she at least owed him the courtesy to join her in her penthouse.

Teddy strolled in and looked around the suite, 'nice place,' he spoke aimlessly, from the tone of his voice Rayna knew that he really didn't care about the décor. Rayna spun around and walked back to the foyer to shut the door behind her husband, she quickly stuck her head out and peered through the corridor. Nothing, until she saw the familiar shot of black hair making its way to the elevator shaft.

'Shit.' It was Deacon. He had seen Teddy come in, Rayna's heart sank a little, Teddy always had a way with bad timing.

Deacon marched his way back to the elevator; once again Rayna had chosen Teddy over himself. Once again he had lost her to _him_. Angrily, he prodded the button that sent him back to his suite. To say that he was pissed would be an understatement. He had listened to Glenn's advice and actually made a move for once. He couldn't comprehend what was going on, he had risked everything; put his heart on the line; for Rayna. It had taken him all the courage he had to kiss her, he knew that if she hadn't returned the kiss, that would be it; they would be over. For good. But she had. She had returned the kiss with, what Deacon knew, to be as much passion as he had exerted upon her. It was his last shot to show her how he felt and as per 'Mr Mayor' had to come and ruin it for him. They were probably in her suite making love. 'That should be me.' Deacon thought, and with a sigh he exited the elevator and unlocked his room's door.

Rayna's eyes had glazed over round about as soon as Teddy begun talking about politics, she really didn't give a crap about how his campaign was going. All she could think about was Deacon. Nevertheless, she listened carefully about her daughters' achievements, it pleased her to know that with all the stress she was enduring, her daughters would always be rock solid. Rayna must have fallen into a deep day dream because Teddy was frantically clicking his fingers in front of her.

'Rayna…Rayna'

'Whh- whut. I'm here, sorry it's been a long day 'nd I must have zoned out for a minute or too there.'

'No worries, I just wanted to tell you something…' Teddy said mysteriously. 'Something important. How about I fix you a drink?'

'Yes please!' Rayna groaned, lord knew she needed it.

'Scotch on the rocks coming right up,' Teddy declared, 'because that's how you like it.'

'Wrong.' Rayna thought to herself, she always too her scotch straight, he father always drank with ice and the image alone was enough to put her off the stuff for a year.

'So what did you wanna talk about?' Rayna quizzed, she was puzzled, to say the least, to why Teddy had schlepped all the way to Chicago. She knew he was wary of Deacon being back on the tour but aside from what had just occurred, and several fairly awkward elevator rides, they had barely seen each other.

'Erm, how about you sit down for sec?'

'Ok,' Rayna cocked her head to the side, raising one perfectly primped right eyebrow. 'This must be serious,' she thought to herself. She took her scotch and downed it in one, it had been a long day and she desperately needed something to knock the edge off, the scotch did the trick nicely.

'Rayna look,' Teddy took her hands in his and caressed them softly, 'things haven't been great between us for a while now. You know that, and I know that. I kept hoping that we would get that spark back that we used to have. That you would wake up one morning and love me as much as I loved you. But it hasn't happened, and no offence but it doesn't look like it will happen. And I thought that I would be okay with you just settling for me, but to tell you the truth; I'm not. I want to be someone's first choice, for me to be their reason for waking up in the morning…'

Rayna couldn't speak for a while, it hurt her to hear the things Teddy was telling her, she couldn't say that this was a total shock because she knew the pain she was causing him. He wasn't the love of her life and they both knew it.

' I don't get why you're telling me this. Has something happened? What are you saying?'

'What I'm saying is, Rayna, I. Want. A. Divorce.'

Rayna's green eyes popped out her sockets. 'Divorce?!' She choked. She almost wished she hadn't had that whisky as she was unsure whether this was really happening or not. All she could think about were her girls, 'what would they do? Who would they live with? They're gonna be heart broken.' Her eyes became glassy and began to spring tears from the corners. Teddy made a feeble attempt to brush them off her cheek but he was intercepted by her knocking his hand away. She really didn't want his pity right now. ' Um. Could I have a minute?'

'Yeah of course. Look im gonna go im catching the red eye back to Nashville in an hour. I left the girls with Tandy, can we talk about this later?' he pleaded.

Rayna's jaw dropped, 'All this?' she mimicked, sporadically waving her hands between them. 'This is our marriage Teddy. "All this" is the divorce you just asked for, do you realise the implications this is going to have on our daughters?!' Rayna couldn't believe it, he was leaving, they didn't even have chance to work through things.

'Of course I realise what effect this is going to have Rayna,' he hissed, 'and although you may not think it, I actually have a rather important job to get back to, and I would like to talk about it but I have a jet waiting to take me home to our children.' Rayna rolled her eyes, she was sick of all these bloody jets.

'We'll talk later then. I trust that you can see yourself out.' She said making no efforts to bid him goodbye.

Teddy left, Rayna spent the next hour curled into a ball by the fire, her only source of comfort being the bottle of Jack Daniels. As she thought about what she had just been asked to do, the divorce and everything, her mind wandered back to Deacon.

'Crap.' He had seen Teddy her penthouse and as usual would have jumped to conclusions. She shivered at the thought of all the possible scenarios Deacon must be thinking up. She couldn't let him go on like this; she needed to be honest with him about everything. Without thinking, Rayna leapt up and proceeded through her door and down the corridor to the elevator. She jammed the floor seven button and set out for Deacons floor, her foot tapped in time to the elevator jingle being played through the speakers. The journey down to Deacon's floor appeared to take eons, when in reality it was a mere thirty seconds- at most.

Rayna climbed out the elevator and paced the hallway to Deacon's room. She paused for a moment about halfway through, just to confirm about what she was going to do, but then continued on 'till she was outside Deacon's suite.

'This was it.' She thought to herself. There was no turning back now.

Rayna knocked twice on the door.

No answer.

She knocked again, several times, before she heard the faint sound of footsteps and Deacon calling from the inside, 'Alright, I'm comin', I'm comin'.' Deacon opened the door, a severe look of surprise and confusion painted on his face.

'Rayna?'

'Hey.'

'What do you want?' he demanded harshly, clearly unimpressed by her arrival.

Rayna's face did that crinkly thing with her eyebrows that she did when she was hurt. 'We need to talk Deacon.'

'Didn't you hear me earlier Rayna. I'm done talking. Or were you too busy worrying about what Teddy would think?' he jabbed.

Rayna gulped, he always had to bring Teddy into things. 'I don't care what Teddy thinks anymore.'

'Oh yeah? Didn't seem that way when you let him into your penthouse before. You two work things out?'

'No.'

'Well that's too bad.' Deacon said sarcastically.

'Deacon,' Rayna sighed, 'We're getting divorced.'

'You're what?' Deacon asked, he could hardly believe what he was hearing.

'Teddy asked me for a divorce… and all I could think about was _you_.' Rayna whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you so much for all the reviews and PMs i really appreciate them! I am so sorry it has taken me so long to upload this chapter and once again it will be in 2 parts for 1x13. I feel so bad on you all but i have been in miami so i havent been able to complete and upload them right now! I hope you like it xxxx**

Rayna's head was spinning from her less than pleasant phone call from Teddy. Only he would call her two minutes from show time. As she wandered aimlessly backstage, she could only think of her daughters and how she was about to ruin their life. Nothing else mattered as much as they did- not even Deacon.

Ah Deacon.

She had not seen him since she appeared on his doorstep. They hadn't spoken much, things had gotten awkward after she had told him about her divorce, she hadn't pushed him and he hadn't pushed her. They both knew that if anything happened that night, it would have been out of pity. Not for any other reason. They weren't at that place yet.

_'You're gettin' divorced?' Deacon repeated._

_'Yeah we are.'_

_'I would say I am sorry Ray, but I'm not. I hope y'all okay though.' _

_'Oh' Rayna frowned._

_'Look, I am sorry for the girls, they could really do with their dad when you're out with us but staying in that marriage wasn't good for you and you know it. Whether you will admit that to yourself Is a different matter entirely…'_

_'Look Deacon, we need to talk about what happened in the elevator… y'know the kis-'_

_Deacon cut her off. 'We don't need to talk about that now Ray.'_

As Rayna replayed last week's events, the kiss, the divorce and the aftermath, she couldn't help feel a little cruel. She had dumped a load of feelings on Deacon on a subject she knew he found sensitive.

Suddenly the unmistakable boom of the introducer intercepted her train of thought.

'9 TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNER…MISS RAYNA JAYMES.!'

'Fuck,' Rayna thought. It was time for her to go on. Shaking she clambered up the steps onto the stage, her Louboutins wavering from below. An overwhelming cheer echoed from the crowd and Rayna was blinded by the thousands of star-like flashes radiating towards her. Adria, the new band leader kicked off the show, Rayna could hear the music but she couldn't respond. Rayna stood motionless in front of 20,000 screaming fans. Completely overwhelmed and exhausted from her life.

'What is going on?' Deacon thought to himself. He had faintly heard Rayna's queue from the beginning of 'It's my life' playing; but no Rayna. Once and then twice more and he sure as hell wasn't gonna let it happen a fourth. He grabbed his guitar and sprinted to the side of the stage where he was met by Bucky and a gang of crew members, all staring wide-eyed at the redhead with no voice.

'What the hell is going on out there Buck?' deacon demanded

'Ray missed her queue.' He gulped as he replied.

'She missed it four times actually!' Juliet quipped out of nowhere.

'Enough Juliet,' Deacon asserted, pointing his finger to tell her to close her mouth, 'this is serious y'all. Imma go out and help her, give her some back up.' He declared, edging towards the steps, it was only due to the pulling of his collar he stopped.

'You will do no such thing.' Juliet ordered.

'She's right,' nodded Bucky, 'besides she has enough on her plate right now, I don't need you going up and confusing her. She'll get it back; she's Rayna Jaymes for g-ds sake!'

Juliet melodramatically rolled her eyes; she had had enough of all this Rayna praise by now. Deacon stayed where he was and soon enough Rayna picked it up again and as usual, the crowd were in awe of her.

_…1 Hour later…_

The after party back stage was in full swing, Rayna wanted to cry after what an awful show she had displayed. Never in twenty years had she ever missed a queue. She inhaled heavily and thanked her crew for the kind words. Bucky strolled towards her, bouquet in hand. 'Lilies! Aw you shouldn't have had Buck.'

'I just wanted to make sure you're alright Ray. The audience didn't notice so don't worry about them; I'm more concerned about you.'

'I'm fine, honestly Buck,' just then Rayna noticed Liam from the corner of her eye, she cocked her head to one side and raised one perfectly primped eyebrow, 'Did you invite him here?!'

'Who?'

'Liam.'

'Of course not, listen Rayna, I know you two were partners and all, but I don't like the guy, he has this weird aroma about him.'

Rayna laughed at Bucky's use of the word 'aroma' , patted him on the shoulder and slid past him and through the crowd.

Liam greeted her with a playful bow, before handing her a champagne flute. 'Evening your majesty!'

Rayna swatted him on the arm 'What the hell are you doing here?' she jokily inquired.

'Well I wanted to see the show, never of thought you two would'a made it this far without ripping one another's Stetsons!'

'Puh-lease. That girl is the least of my problems right now.' Rayna retorted.

'Speaking of problems, you alright? I saw your little hiccup back there.'

'You saw that?' Rayna blushed, dramatically covering her face.

'Yeah, you wanna talk about it?' liam asked.

Before Rayna had chance to reply, Deacon appeared at her doorstep, he was the last person she was expecting to see. Deacon tilted his head, ushering for her to join him in the corridor.

'Would you give me a sec?' she asked Liam.

'Take all the time you need, m'lady' he answered, bowing and tipping his hat off his head in an old English doorman kinda-way.

As Rayna walked past Deacon, she couldn't help but notice the bags and stress lines creeping across his perfectly chizzled face.

'Hey.' Rayna smiled lightly.

'Hi.' Deacon replied, no sign of happiness across his face.

'What's wrong?' Rayna burrowed her eyebrows.

'I feel like I should be asking you that. In the twenty years you've been performing, you've never missed a queue.'

'Thanks for reminding me…'

'Look Ray, if this is about the kiss and everything, I am sorry.'

'No its not, its really not. Its Teddy and everythin', the girls, im about to destroy their lives.'

'Okay, so talk to me about it?' deacon leant across and stroked her face tenderly.

Rayna flinched at Deacon's gesture, it had been so long since he had touched her like that, she missed it and desired it. Right now though, she just needed to stay on top of her life.

'I want to, I really want to Deacon. But right now, I got the tour, I got ma girls. I cant talk to you, of all people, without losin' it. And I really cant lose it right now.'

Deacon didn't reply straight away but instead just stared at Rayna, clasped her hand and never removed his eyes off hers. Finally he broke the undeniable tension growing between them 'When you're ready darling.'

'Thank You.' Rayna said, kissing him on the cheek as she walked back into the party.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! Sorry it has been taking me a while to upload new chapters. I am trying to drag them out over the next month because we wont have a new episode for an entire month *cries* so i want to keep up your fill of Nashville hehe. This is the last portion of 1x13, mostly from Deacon's point of view for a change. Enjoy! xxx**

Deacon was just about to text Rayna, when he thought heard the shrill of her giggle echoing throughout the lobby of the Four Seasons'. Yes, it was Rayna alright, there was no mistaking the chortle she explodes when highly amused. Deacon scanned the lobby searching for Rayna, he found her almost instantaneously. He watched in awe as she tipped her voluminous auburn mane over her head, revelling in joy and amusement at something whispered in her ear. However, Deacon was more concerned to who it was murmuring in her ear, he had only ever seen Rayna act like that after they had, well, y'know…

Deacon squinted a little harder in order to make out who Rayna was flirting with. As his vision became clearer and his eyes focused, he felt a sharp stab in his heart and a lump begun to form in his throat, he furrowed his eyebrows. It was Liam. Of all the people for her to turn to, she turned to _him._ 'She wasn't supposed to turn to him; she was supposed to turn to me.' Deacon thought. He was the Johnny to her June; he was the one she was meant to talk to. So why didn't she? She had told him that she couldn't speak to anyone right now. So what was she doing with Liam? Deacon chuckled ironically; he knew exactly what she was doing with Liam.

'Deacon!' Juliet yelled.

Deacon spun around to face his pint-sized friend, 'Yes maam.'

'Will you go load your things onto the bus, we're headin' out in a half hour.'

'Okey Dokey, you want anything bringing out?' he asked, just to be polite.

'Nah, I'm set.' She answered, Deacon turned around to head down the stairs to the main area of the lobby, but before he could move Juliet captured his attention, 'Hey Deac, don't worry about Rayna, she'll come around soon.'

'Oh I'm not worried.' Deacon lied.

'Oh c'mon Deacon, I can see you brooding from the other side of the lobby,' Juliet pushed.

'JUST DROP IT JULIET!' Deacon snapped, before storming down the stairs and pushing the doors open before the doorman could even lean over.

Deacon approached the tour bus and gently laid the beautiful guitar, Juliet had bought for him, down in the stowaway. He loved that guitar, but it didn't feel completely right playing it, so he had attached his 'Deacon' strap that Rayna had bought for him to it.

'Hey.' Rayna said from behind him, he hadn't expected her to be there, and whacked his head against the top of the bus in surprise.

Rayna giggled, 'Y'alright Deac?'

'I'm fine.' He replied coolly.

'You sure?'

'Lets just cut the crap Rayna.'

'What are you talkin' about?' she gasped.

'You and Liam have a nice night last night?' Deacon frowned.

Rayna tipped her head back slightly and smirked a little, truth is, she and liam had done nothing but make out. And even then it was mostly one sided, she hadn't want to take it further because she knew how badly it would destroy Deacon. Liam was just a friend, she needed someone to talk to that didn't hold a bias view on the situation. 'Liam's just a friend Deacon.'

'Yeah, I bet.' Deacon spat, and turned around to head up to the tour bus.

Rayna shook her head and sprinted after him, grabbing his arm and pulling him to face her. 'What do you want from me right now?' she cried.

Deacon leaned in, he thought about kissing her. He did more than think about it, he leaned in more and thought about the passion the two had shared the other week in Chicago. Deacon thought about kissing her. But he didn't. 'I don't want a damn thing from you Rayna.' He retorted.

Rayna watched as Deacon clambered onto the bus. It killed her that she couldn't talk to him about everything going on, but she couldn't handle it if she accidentally dragged him into her and Teddy's situation all over again. Yet it still wasn't fair for him to penalize her for her actions with Liam. She was a big girl, she didn't need someone to babysit and criticize her; she especially didn't need him for that. He was the one person in the entire world who never judged her, no matter what she did. He was the one person who she could depend on never to turn his back on her. But here she was stood outside in the cold, whilst Deacon completely alienated himself from her.

Rayna wasn't used to Deacon leaving her, like she had done so many times to him.


	11. Chapter 11

Rayna and Tandy strolled through the savoury isle of the supermarket. It had been three days since Rayna and Teddy had filed for divorce. Maddie had already let slip that Teddy was sleeping with Peggy, and it bugged Rayna. She wasn't jealous, she and Teddy were having an amicable divorce, no one had played dirty- yes someone had cheated but she wasn't THAT derailed by the situation. What did annoy her was the how quickly Teddy had moved on, he hadn't been too pleased to see her when she went to visit him that morning and he didn't deny he was sleeping with Peggy either. To be fair he was convinced that Rayna had been having an emotional affair with Deacon for the past thirteen years. And the truth is; she had, she was just too afraid to admit it to herself, let a lone anyone else.

'Everyone is starin' again Tandy.' Rayna muttered under her breath.

'I know hun, just ignore them,' her sister feebly replied.

'It's like they can sense distress in a person y'know? Like they're waiting for me to mess up.'

'That's because they are.' Her sister joked, nudging Rayna in the stomach.

Rayna smirked and swatted her sister playfully, 'Imma go find some of those pancakes the girls like, the ones with all the chocolate chips in, and maybe some popcorn, I'm feeling a chick flick session comin' along.'

'Have fun sweetie,' her sister replied, 'ill just get coffee and meet you out front.'

Rayna walked away, ducking her head to avoid any unwanted attention, she found the pancakes almost instantaneously, probably because she always bought them; cooking was not her forte. The popcorn, however, was proving harder to find. Rayna was baffled, she couldn't find it anywhere. She walked up to one of the employees.

'Excuse me, Katie, is it?' she read off the girl's name tag, 'I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of where the popcorn may be, please.'

The girls mouth hung open, it was clear to Rayna that she had never been in close proximity with a celebrity before. 'Ohmmmm, why- er- yes of course Ray- I mean Ms Jaymes, if you'd like to follow me over to isle seven.' She gestured all too willingly.

'I'm sure I can manage,' Rayna stated, she was not trying to be rude but she really didn't want to be around people today,' But thanks anyway for your help, I'll be sure to put in a good word for y'all.'

Rayna made her way down to isle seven, she turned the corner onto the isle and saw the overly decorated snack section, popcorn wouldn't be hard to find now. As she approached the shelf she noticed that there was only one box left. 'Lucky me,' she thought. As she reached out to get it her hand was intercepted by a large, masculine hand tugging at the box.

'Excuse me!' she snapped, it was only when she turned her head to see her opponent she realised who it was.

'Fuck,' she thought.

'Hey Ray,' Deacon greeted her.

'What are you doing here?!' she yelled. Their last conversation had not ended well and to say the least she was pissed off with him. How could Deacon of all people believe that she would have a one night stand? She wasn't twenty anymore.

'What do you mean? It's a supermarket Ray.' He joked.

'Yes but what are you doing in t_his_ supermarket Deacon? You expect me to believe you drove all the way out to Belle Meade for some popcorn?'

' I don't expect anything from you Rayna.' He retorted, Rayna picked up on the ulterior motive behind his reaction. ' The truth is, I was looking to rent 'Old Yeller' and the movie store up here was the only one with it in. Don't worry im not stalkin' ya.'

'Old Yeller then? You only do that on your birthday. Oh shit sorry Deacon, I completely forgot.'

'Yeah, you know me, nothing else to look forward to…' he muttered under his breath.

'Look Deacon, we need to talk about everything really. Liam, Teddy, us. It just needs sorting out y'know?' Rayna pleaded.

'Ugh Rayna, I don't wanna talk about it now.'

'Then when do you want to talk about it Deacon? This is the problem with you, you never seem to want to talk about anything!'

'Hey don't turn this around on me! I'm not the one who slept with my producer, I'm not the one who got kissed in an elevator then never seemed to talk about it. In fact I remember asking you back stage two weeks ago if you wanted to talk about that. And what did you say Rayna, I think you said 'I don't wanna talk about it' that was _you _not me. So forgive me if I don't want to talk about a sensitive issue on my birthday!' Deacon fumed, Rayna could be so fickle sometimes, and everything seemed to happen when it suited her. Well what about when it suited him for a change.

'Deacon, I – I, I didn't know-'Rayna tried to interrupt.

'And do you know why you didn't know, because you never cared to listen.' He stated finally.

Rayna shook her head; this was more than her just forgetting about his birthday. They were back in his yard again, arguing the same argument over and over again. Yes she had left him in rehab. Yes she had left him for Teddy. Yes she had fired him from the band. But he knew why she did that and she knew why she did that. How many more times were they going to have the same argument over and over again? They were never going to be able to move forward if they kept rehashing the past.

Suddenly, out of nowhere Daphne ran up to her mother and pulled at her hand. 'Mom c'mon quickly, they're writing about your divorce. Oh hey Uncle Deacon.'

'Hi Darlin'' Deacon smiled, as pissed as he was at Rayna, he wasn't about to take it out on an eight year old.

Rayna stared at him ferociously, before turning to her daughter' Okay hun, I will be there in a minute,' she turned to face Deacon, 'You can keep the damn popcorn.' She forced the box into his arms and sprinted off through the supermarket.

Rayna searched for Maddie, Daphne and Tandy who were all huddle around a magazine rack. A buzz seemed to be surrounding US Weekly and Rayna couldn't help but notice all the other shoppers staring at her fixated.

'Hey y'all what's going on?!' Rayna demanded softly.

'Is any of this true mom?!' Maddie quizzed. 'Did you really cheat on dad with Liam and Deacon?'

'No hunny, just ignore them. They're just trying to pit your dad and I against one another.' Rayna said, trying to convince her wide eyed daughters of the truth.

'But they were right about dad, what makes this any different?' Maddie stammered.

'What do you mean they were right about daddy?' Daphne asked bewildered.

'Nothin' angel, ignore your sister,' Rayna said, cocking her head and glaring at her eldest to tell her to keep it hush.

'Er Rayna' Tandy nudged, 'people are taking pictures.'

'I'm well aware of that Tandy, thank you very much for pointing it out though.' Rayna snapped.

'I was only trying to help Rayna, calm down.'

'Calm down?! I'm having to explain my personal life to my daughters in a supermarket! Don't tell me to calm down. You don't understand. If you really wanna help buy the magazines. BUY ALL OF THEM. Charge them on my card if you need to.' Rayna threw her purse at Tandy.

'Ok you get the girls outta here, ill sort out this mess.'

'C'mon girls, let's get to the car, keep your head down and walk straight ahead, don't look back.' Rayna instructed, as they set off to leave, Rayna caught Deacon in the corner of her eye. He was just stood watching with discomfort as he watched the woman he loved and her children forced out the supermarket.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dedicated to FictionallySpeaking who has been helping me with this episode as i want to spin it on it's head a little. This subchapter is shorter but episode 1x14 will be finished by wednesday!**

**-Enjoy xx**

Rayna watched carefully as her sister aimlessly paced back and forth through the kitchen, looking for coffee- and vodka.

'All I'm saying sweetie is that you need to sit down and have a conversation. It is Deacon after all.' Tandy intruded.

'Okay I'll calm him later; I just don't know how to face him after this morning. God Tandy, you should have seen the way he looked at me. Did you know it is his birthday? I completely forgot, after twenty years I forgot it was his fricken birthday.' Rayna groaned, pulling at her hair in exasperation.

'First of all Rayna, Deacon knows you wouldn't sleep around, he's hurt after, y'know, the Chicago situation. I just think he is tryna' reason with the fact that all this shit is going on and you haven't talked to him about any of it. Secondly, it's not up to you to remember everything about everyone, you've been under stress, its normal for you to forget things. You may be a superstar but you're still human Rayna.'

Rayna looked at her sister wide eyed; she wasn't used to Tandy spurting out wisdom like Ghandi.

'Just pick up that thing called a phone in your hand, and give him a call sweetie. What do you have to lose?' tandy quizzed, knowing full well everything that could possibly happen if Rayna let too much slip.

'Now that I think about it Tandy, this isn't a conversation you can have over the phone. Y'know deacon's got a lot goin on right now and I don't wanna burden or offend him. maybe I should just go see him?'

Tandy cocked her head to one side, avoiding her sister's burning gaze. Rayna knew what Tandy must be thinking; 'don't do it Rayna, we all know what's gonna happen. You two are gonna have it out, one of you will accuse the other of giving up on them, one of you will say there was no other choice. You had to do what was best at the time. And before you know it, everything will be out in the open', Rayna thought to herself.

'You do what you've gotta' do sweetie, but just keep in mind what you've got to lose. Try not to say too much.' She said giving Rayna a knowing stare.

Rayna caught on to her sister's less-than-subtle hint,' Don't worry, Teddy and I don't plan on letting the cat out the bag anytime soon. For everyone's sake.'

Tandy grabbed her keys and left to pick up Maddie and Daphne from ballet, Rayna didn't need any extra hassle right now.

Rayna thought very carefully about what she was about to do, she picked up her Iphone and scrolled through her contacts until she reached D, for Deacon. She drew up a message and began composing a text;

_Deacon, _

_We need to talk once and for all, you need to know what really happened._

_Meet me tonight 8 o'clock at the Bluebird so we can talk._

_-Rayna_

As the text began to send, Rayna's phone vibrated softly to alert her she had an incoming message.

It was Juliet, 'Just what I need,' Rayna smirked to herself. It read;

_Surprise birthday party for Deacon at the Bluebird, 8 o'clock sharp_

_-Juliet xo_

Rayna stared at the text baffled yet slightly amused, Deacon and parties were not two words you word ever use in the same sentence. Rayna had tried and failed to throw him a decent party for eleven years, it would always end the same way, a massive fight then passionate sex on the couch, on the bus or on a hammock. It saddened Rayna that she wouldn't be the one organising Deacons birthday, last year, before everything had gotten complicated, the two of them plus Bucky, Watty, Coleman and Audrey had all headed down to Tootsies, ordered non-alcoholic beverages and what was probably way too many pizzas than what they actually needed. They had spent the night reminiscing their favourite memories of Deacon, well second favourite, Rayna's favourite were not suitable to share with such group. Thinking back made her smile, the times when she and Deacon could just relax around one another, before all this tension cropped up, when they could just sing and laugh without worrying about overstepping boundaries.

Rayna didn't know what to do anymore, the more she thought about Deacon. The more overwhelmed she became, she couldn't function with all these emotions bundled up inside of her. Usually, if they had time, they would have just sung to one another, it had always been the only way of honest communication between the two of them. Rayna rose from the couch and sashayed her way to the grand piano in the drawing room. Rayna picked up a pencil, and began to write.


	13. Chapter 13

**sorry for the delay y'alll! severe weather issues in the UK right now so i have had lousy internet signal! this chapter is a bit different, i hope you like it! **

**xoxo**

**Phoebe**

Rayna sighed and stretched, whilst remaining perfectly perched on the stool in front of her grand piano. She had just spent a good four hours writing. More specifically; writing for Deacon. She had in mind what she wanted to say, she just didn't exactly know how to say it, so logically she did what she does best; she sung it. Rayna hope that Deacon appreciated it, over the years gifts had become pointless as she knew that the one thing he really wanted, she couldn't give him, not until now that is. Glancing over at the clock, Rayna freaked; 7:00pm, one hour till the party. Picking up her iPhone, Rayna dialed Watty and got up from her piano.

'Hey Ray!' Watty's familiar southern droll echoed from down the receiver.

'Hey Watty, listen, are you still goin' to Deacons party tonight?' Rayna quizzed, making her way up the stairs to her bedroom.

'Yeah I was just about to leave, traffics manic though,' he sighed into the phone.

'Awh alright, I was wondering if you could swing by and pick me up first? Ive got somethin' I wanna play ya, then we can go together?' Rayna asked as she mused over what to wear that evening.

'Only for you my darlin', ill see you in about a half hour…does that work for ya?' he asked kindly.

'Perfect! Alright see you then!'

'See you later sunshine' Watty said before he hung up.

Rayna sighed and took another look in her closet. She strolled past the Louboutins, the Herve Leger and the Choos, before reaching her destination; her beloved collection of shirts and jeans. Or her 'Cowboy' clothes as Daphne called them. Rayna cocked her head as she glanced through the various garments, before pulling out a simple pair of navy jeans and a teal shirt. 'Casual' she thought to herself. Deacon didn't do parties, so if he was having one there was no way she was turning up looking like an episode of Real House Wives of Tennessee. Rayna quickly got changed and set off into the bathroom to fix her hair and make-up. She pulled her auburn tresses out of the half up do she had been sporting. She quickly curled her ends applied the finishing touches to her make-up, she wasn't really one for going all out. Especially when she thought about how cheap she was feeling at the minute. Then she thought about the tabloids. Then the girls. Then Deacon. All these factors were welling up inside her, she began to hum the lyrics to her new song, hoping that they would somehow make everything better, but they weren't.

Momentarily, Rayna was brought out her own world of misery by the chimes of the doorbell.

'Shit.' Rayna thought. Half an hour had gone so quickly. Rayna quickly sashayed from in front of the vanity mirror, to her bed room, to pick up her bag, phone and keys. Before she knew it she was at the front door.

'Hey!' she smiled, halfheartedly to Watty.

'Hey darling, come here,' he said quietly, pulling her into a comforting embrace, 'I hope you're okay sweet heart.'

'Thank you, I will be. I'm fine.' She lied.

'I know when you're fine, and you're not fine.'

Rayna sighed and rolled her eyes, 'Ugh, why does everyone keep saying that? I am gonna be fine. Now enough about my life. We got a party to go to.' Rayna tried to divert conversation away from her, lying through her pearly teeth.

'If you're sure…lead the way…madam' he joked. Rayna elbowed him and glared at her friend before smirking slightly.

'You been talking to bucky?'

'He may have picked up the phone to call about a certain sex-tape-obsessed publicist, didn't really mention much though…' Watty said sarcastically.

'Oh haha. Not you too, who does she think I am? Juliet Barnes?' Rayna mocked.

'Speaking of little miss sparkly-pants, we ought'ta be hurrying up or we're gonna have a divadip on us.' Watty fired back.

'That girl does not have diva-dips, she is just a diva. Did I tell you she fired Glen the other week in Atlanta? Went all Godfather on his ass 'nd everything.'

'Why does that not surprise me?' Watty laughed, clambering into his chevvy. Rayna swung open her door and joined him, and they were off.

….

It took the pair forty minutes to reach Printer's Alley, traffic was beyond ridiculous. Rayna felt it comforting that she could speak to Watty without having to fully explain herself. Watty was like a father to her- just not like _her _father, which is why she found she could easily confined in him.

'You nervous?' Watty asked.

'Nervous- what would I have to be nervous about? This ain't my first rodeo.' Rayna shrugged.

'Not about performing, the song's great, you did good my little song bird. I meant about seeing Deacon, you said you two weren't getting along recently.' He smiled faintly.

'Oh I don't know… we will just have to see what happens y'know? Deacon's got stuff going on in his life that I don't even know about. I need to tell him everythin' that's going on in my life, I shouldn't be so quick to judge.' Rayna mused, fidgeting in her seat as the conversation focused back onto her.

The pair sat in silence as they pulled into a parking spot,' Look Ray, I really am sorry about Teddy,' Watty apologised, even though it shouldn't have been him apologising.

'I know,' Rayna said simply, squeezing his hand before she hopped out the car.

Shit. Paparazzi. Everywhere.

_Hey Rayna, you deacon's birthday present?_

_Who's better, liam, deacon or the mayor?_

_Who did you have first?_

_Where's liam?_

'Knock it off fellas' Watty roared, wrapping his arm around Rayna protectively.

'Thanks.' she smiled, as they made their way up the block.

Meanwhile…..

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEACON!' The crowd roared.

'What the hell? Did you do this?' He demanded playfully to Scarlett, before turning around.

'Oh no you don't Mr' his niece yelled over the few dozen voices in the Bluebird, pulling her uncle back into the crowd. 'Your pretty little blonde friend over there did all this.' She gleamed pointing at Juliet.

'Now why does that not surprise me?' he smirked.

'Happy birthday Deac!' Juliet smiled, pulling her older friend in for a hug. 'Y'know, I think you've grown a wrinkle or two since last week.' She mocked.

'Very probably missy, thanks for doing this by the way.' He thanked as he worked his way through the crowd.

Ten minutes or so passed, Deacon would never admit it if anyone asked, but he was actually enjoying himself for once. He had to hand it to Juliet, she sure knew how to throw a good party. Something was still missing though.

'Don't go anywhere,' he warned Dan, 'I'm just stepping out for some air, everythin's a bit overwhelming y'know?'

'Alright man.'

Deacon worked his way to the front, heading for the door. It was only when the door was opened before him and he saw who the guest was, did he stop in his tracks. Rayna.

'Now this is a surprise.' He exclaimed in disbelief, he didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed after this morning.

Rayna simply smiled and shrugged before passing her belongings to Watty and approaching Deacon. 'Happy Birthday,' she addressed him coyly. Looking around she quickly took in her surroundings, noticing all the décor. 'You'd think Juliet would've found a better picture to put on the mask' she joked, laughing to herself.

Deacon joined in with her, he couldn't stay mad at her for long, especially when she had never intended to hurt him. 'Come here.' He said and Rayna delved into his arms for a sweet embrace. That was it. Instant. Their walls came crashing down between them as the two lingered for longer than they probably should have. Their chemistry was undeniable, and it wasn't just the two of them who noticed.

'Uh-hum.' Juliet interrupted, eying the pair up and down. 'Rayna, what a lovely surprise, I didn't realise you would be joining us this evening. 'specially after everything in the papers. Girl you should think about getting a better publicist.' Juliet toyed, only stopping due to the burning glare Deacon had fixed on her.

'Well, when I do, I'll be sure to give you a call…or not..' Rayna quipped, remembering back to Juliet's most mishandled transgressions.

'Anyways ladies, I am going to mingle.' Deacon perked up, trying to break the growing tension.

Both Rayna and Juliet watched, transfixed on Deacon as he coolly made his way through the crowd of well-wishers. Rayna smirked and cocked her head to one side, so that she was looking down to her boots.

'What?' Juliet puzzled.

'I just never thought I'd see the day that Deacon Claybourne would be enjoying his birthday party.' Rayna giggled.

Juliet rolled her eyes, bemused at the lack of credit Rayna was still enforcing on her. 'Well, I guess he just needed the right person to do it.' She jabbed.

Rayna pretended to ignore Juliet's remark; she would have to play nice if she wanted to perform her present. 'Listen Juliet, I've written a song for Deacon, and I'd really appreciate it if I could play it at some point?'

Juliet turned to face Rayna, thought silently for a few seconds before plastering a false smile across her bronzed face, 'I've actually got a little somethin' of my own I'd like to play…so we'll see.'

'Alrighty then,' Rayna searched the room, looking for someone to come save her, 'Oh would you look at that, Pam's callin me over. Nice catching up!' Rayna lied and made her way over to a random table in the opposite of the bar.

'You too.' Juliet replied flatly as she watched with envy as Rayna walked away.

- **1 HOUR LATER –**

By now the party was in full swing and the drinks had kept on coming. At least to everyone but Deacon that is, he had been too preoccupied with managing Jolene's situation to even notice how drunk everyone was. Juliet had left to go sort out her mom, so Deacon had told Emily and the crew that they could go home, but they had politely declined and asked to stay.

'Alright everyone, I've got a special surprise up here for y'all. My uncle Deacon's good friend, who im sure needs no introduction, is gonna sing a song she wrote specially for this occasion. Ladies and gentlemen, miss Rayna Jaymes!' Deacon heard Scarlett squeal. What was Rayna doing on stage? More importantly, what was she about to sing? Deacon's curiosity got the better of him as he ducked around the corner, leaned against the bar and listened very, very carefully.

The crowd cheered as Rayna, accompanied by Watty, made their way onto the stage.

'It's so nice to have all these familiar faces out here tonight.' Rayna cooed.

The crowed agreed in harmony, raising a glass.

'I'm sure all of you out there know that Deacon and I go back a long, long time.' She giggled, the crowed wolf-whistled and jeered, but Rayna just searched for Deacon and smiled. 'If there was no Deacon Claybourne, there'd be no Rayna Jaymes, y'know.' She praised Deacon, and as much as she smiled in appreciation, everyone seemed to pick up on the twinge of sadness in her eyes. Rayna found Deacon, but he averted her gaze and looked down bashfully, as the crowd clapped for the two of them. 'Mr Watty White, you're gonna help me out.' She nodded to her partner, 'Pam Tillis, Kate York, y'all come up here and help me out please?' she cheered, raising her hands to encourage the crowd. The four laughed on stage for a couple of seconds, before Rayna composed herself and returned to the microphone. 'Deacon, this is for you. Thank you for everything.' She smiled, meeting Deacon's stare as he stood wide-eyed with wonder.

Rayna brought her lips to the Mic, and began to sing;

_**Oh, here I go again  
walking the line  
killing time between my sins  
Oh, why do I come here**_

Rayna glanced up to meet Deacon's eyes, he stood watching her, never ceasing to even blink. Rayna continued.

_**The ending's still the same  
I'm bringing back old tears  
I act like I don't know  
Where this road will go**_

Rayna could feel her eyes well up, 'I will not cry. I will not cry.' She thought, blocking out painful memories so she could continue on in peace.

_**Pour me something stronger  
Pour me something straight  
All these crooked voices, make them go away  
I can barely stand up  
I can hardly breathe  
Pour me something stronger than me  
Pour me something stronger than me**_

_**Sunrise hurts as much as you  
You both come when I don't want you to  
Oh, I — can still hear you say  
That you and I would both be better off this way  
These things that I run to  
What I put my heart through**_

_**Pour me something stronger  
Pour me something straight  
All these crooked voices, make them go away  
I can barely stand up  
I can hardly breathe  
Pour me something stronger than me**_

Rayna finished her song, she had spent the entire time entwined with Deacon, so she didn't realise the Bluebird had grown quiet and ominous. People watched transfixed as Rayna poured her heart out. It was obvious to them what the song was a buzz-kill. But she didn't care, they still cheered and shouted 'We love you Rayna'. But she didn't care. All she needed to do was find Deacon, but he had slipped out just as the song had ended.

'Thanks for helping me out with that guys,' she turned to her company, hugging them each in turn. 'I owe ya'. She smiled.

'Yes you do,' Pam joked, 'Drinks on Rayna!' she hooted playfully.

'Whatever.' Rayna smirked, swatting her friend. Rayna walked of stage and made her way through the crowd trying to locate Deacon. After several minutes, and goodbyes later, Rayna found Deacon sat alone at the bar.

She sashayed up to him and climbed on the stool next to him, resting her elbow on the bar and her head in her palm so she could look him in the eye. 'You're the birthday boy, you should not be drinking alone.' She joked.

'Last time I checked, I haven't touched a drink in 12 years.' He grimaced, sipping on his coke.

Rayna could feel awkwardness brewing between them. 'So, how was your birthday?' she smiled.

'T'was alright.' He nodded.

'Good.' She stated softly, not really knowing how to reply.

'I wish you would just talk to me about the divorce Rayna, you know I will always listen, I didn't realise it would be like this.' He soothed.

'I know. And I am really sorry, I have been meaning to take the time to fill you in properly. But right now, I just cant. My life kinda blew up that night in Chicago you know? And I never wanted to drag you into any of this. The media are just being…unimaginable.' She retorted softly, trying to hold back her tears from earlier.

Deacon wiped away the single tear, making its way down her cheek, 'I know.' He said softly in understanding. 'How are you doing Ray?'

'I don't know, I'm looking in a world full of question marks, tryna take care of everybody, tryna figure out where I stand in the middle of it all. Where w_e _stand in the middle of it all…y'know?' she prompted.

Deacon smiled slowly, 'Well, it sure did make for a pretty song.'

Rayna smiled down to her cowboy boots, pausing to question her upcoming actions. Slowly but surely, Rayna reached out and took Deacon's hand in her own. The electrifying sparks flew between the two of them again for a moment as the two were connected in blissful harmony. 'I wanna do right by you,' Rayna said earnestly, Deacon smiled as he picked up on the ulterior meaning.

' I wanna do right with you' he thought to himself.

'Happy birthday.' Rayna gestured once again, before she kissed him softly on the cheek and leaned in for an embrace.

'Thank you.' He whispered as he embraced her firmly yet gently. The pair lingered for a moment, taking in the feel and emotion of one another, until Rayna pulled back, smiled and set out for the door.


	14. Chapter 14

**I was EXTREMELY disapointed in the lack of Deyna scenes this episode. This is just a buffed up version of the meeting at the hospital. Enjoy. xxx**

Rayna and Teddy stormed through the main doors and into A&E.

'What do you mean you don't know where she was?!' Rayna snapped at her soon-to-be-ex-husband. Thousands of possible scenarios were spinning through her mind. All she had asked Teddy to do was watch the girls. Could he not even do that?

'I told you, she wasn't at home!' He thundered, for the fifth time in the past hour. Rayna stopped steadily and looked blankly at Teddy.

'What do you mean she wasn't at home Teddy?!' Rayna bombarded, hand placed harshly on her hip.

'I already told you, I let her go to Talia's to work on a history paper.' He said blatantly not having any of his wife's drama.

'And why in g-ds name would you do that? Did I not tell you on the phone earlier that she was grounded? This divorce is never gonna work if you keep contradicting my instructions.' Rayna explained, easing up slightly on Teddy.

'Look,' Teddy interjected, pointing a finger to Rayna, 'Maddie told me she had a history project, being her father I chose to believe her and not second guess everything. I'm sorry okay?' he pleaded.

'Sorry doesn't make our daughter better.' Rayna spat, striding further down the corridor into the A&E.

'Erm…excuse me- could someone please tell me where Maddie Conrad is? Please?' she asked a nurse.

'Oh erm, wow, miss Jaymes I didn't realise she was your daughter- please, follow me this way.' The nurse said kindly, guiding Rayna with her outstretched arm.

'Thank you.' Rayna said with complete sincerity.

As the two made their way through several corridors, aimlessly conversing about trivial topics that Rayna didn't really care much for, Teddy caught up with them looking rather hot and bothered.

'You ok?' Rayna asked half-heartedly.

'I'm fine, just Lamar being Lamar, y'know.' Teddy sighed, running his hands through his hair with frustration.

'I would know.' Rayna retorted, rolling her eyes cattily.

'She should… just be… right around…here.' The nurse exclaimed, halting in front of a curtain before pulling it back swiftly.

'Oh my baby!' Rayna exclaimed, sprinting towards her daughter before engulfing her in a hug.

'Hey mom.' Maddie said bluntly.

'How are you- whhaaa, what happened? You were meant to be at home sweetie.' Rayna interrogated, trying to make sense of the situation.

'Mom, I snuck out. All the girls were going to Juliet's concert and I didn't want to be the only one not going. I lied to dad; I went to the Juliet Barnes gig without telling y'all, I'm really sorry. Oh hey dad.' Maddie apologised honestly, leaning forward to hug both parents.

'Oh don't worry about it honey, im just relieved you're safe,' Rayna replied, giving Teddy a penetrating stare.

Suddenly a nurse came back in, 'Mr Mayor, Ms Jaymes, im gonna have to take your daughter for a CT scan now, feel free to wait here or in the designated areas.'

'Can we not come with you?' Rayna asked anxiously.

'I will only take a couple of minutes, really, there is no need.' The nurse replied politely, with a hint of assertion.

'Okk.' Both Teddy and Rayna replied before making their way down to the waiting area. Rayna and Teddy stood awkwardly side-by-side. Rayna had her arms folded in front of her, whilst Teddy just stood there, hands in pockets, looking down uncomfortably; guilt stricken. Out of nowhere, the soft voice of Deacon Claybourne echoed through their ears.

'Hey.' Deacon said flatly, nodding at Teddy and smiling awkwardly at Rayna.

'Hey to you too.' Rayna replied smiling sweetly.

'Erm how's she doing?' Deacon asked apprehensively.

'What do you mean?' Teddy asked, confused by the situation.

Deacon looked at him in amazement, 'Erm Maddie? She was at Juliet's gig, I only noticed her because of horrendous piece of ikea furniture hovering above her.' He joked, trying to break the tension. It didn't work.

Rayna grimaced at the thought of her daughter being trampled. 'Er Teddy, Deacon brought Maddie here after the accident.' Rayna pointed out matter-of-factly, not so subtly hinting at Teddy to thank Deacon.

'Oh right, well thanks man- seriously.' Teddy said, avoiding Deacon's handshake, but clapping him on the shoulder instead.

Rayna rocked, head bowed, back on forth on her heels as she waited for Teddy to leave Deacon and her alone.

'Hey.' Rayna said once again, smiling.

'Hey to you too.' Deacon replied, once again, mirroring her expression.

'I cannot thank you enough for bringing Maddie here, seriously Deac, I don't know what I'd do without you.' She smiled.

'No problem, she's like family.' He smiled. Rayna grimaced at the irony. 'Like' she thought to herself; if he only knew. The pair stood awkwardly facing one another, never breaking eye contact as they talked about trivial matters like the weather or Juliet. Suddenly, Deacon felt a buzzing in his back pocket. It was Coleman. 'Oh, its Coleman, we've got a meeting tonight.' As he put his phone back in his pocket, Deacon realised why Rayna had been looking at him strangely as he noticed he was still holding the soft animal he had bought for Maddie, 'Oh erm- this is for Maddie. I don't know if 13 year olds like stuffed animals but the gift shop wasn't exactly Macy's.' he joked, passing the furry Labrador into Rayna's hands.

Rayna beamed as she was given the present for Maddie, Deacon never ceased to amaze her with his generosity. It was his virtue and his downfall. 'Thank you, she'll love it.' Rayna lied, but she didn't want to upset him. Out of nowhere, Rayna pulled Deacon in for a heartfelt embrace, completely taking Deacon by surprise- especially after this morning's events. Her emotions were getting the better of her, she didn't know it was because of everything going on with her divorce, their conversation at his party or today's dramas, but Rayna really just needed comfort and support. She needed _his _support. The couple lingered, entwined for what seemed like minutes, before they were rudely interrupted by Teddy clearing his throat.

'Uch-chum.' Teddy chuffed.

Deacon released Rayna and stepped back swiftly, they had gotten so good at doing that over the years, never wanting to overstep boundaries. Yet even now when there were no boundaries, they didn't feel that it was right to show PDA in front of Teddy.

'Yeah so anyways…' Deacon spoke, looking at Teddy, who was looking at Rayna, who looked bashfully at Deacon, 'I better get going now. Say bye, and get well soon to Maddie will ya'? '

'You got it, see you later.' Rayna said calmly waving gently as she watched Deacon sprint out the hospital.

'Well you two looked cosy,' Teddy quipped, pulling Rayna out her gaze.

'Give it a rest Teddy…' Rayna sighed with exasperation.

'I'm just saying, you looked on better terms then I have seen you in a long while…' Teddy responded, holding his arms up in surrender.

'Whatever,' Rayna rolled her eyes, 'Shouldn't you be picking Maddie up? You already made it perfectly clear that I wasn't welcome at home this week.'

'You know why I did that, it's not good for the girls…' he trailed off but Rayna interrupted him.

'I just thought….given the circumstances, my help may be needed...'

'Well it's not. okay? I know what im doing when it comes to the girls, there were plenty of times I had to heal them when you were on the road doing g-d knows what.' He replied becoming more angry.

'Teddy, I didn't mea-' Rayna interjected but Teddy cut her off.

'Yeah of course you didn't,' Teddy said sarcastically, 'Look I'm gonna go get Maddie so I can bring her home. Have fun in New York.' He said dismally.

Teddy disappeared, Rayna started to make her way out of the hospital, but realised she was still carrying the stuffed animal from Deacon. Sheepishly, she made her way back into the hospital, head ducked in embarrassment at the stuffed toy.

'Mom?' Maddie piped out of nowhere.

'Hey sweetie.' Rayna replied.

'I thought you had gone?' Maddie asked in confusion.

'So had I.' Teddy interrupted sternly.

Rayna glared at him before bending down to meet Maddie. 'Well I was just about to before I realised I still had this.' She said, handing Maddie the stuffed animal.

'A toy?' Maddie quizzed, looking extremely confused.

'It's from Uncle Deacon, he bought it for you as a present.' Rayna smiled softly, she loved it when Deacon spoilt the girls, it made her feel closer to him in some way.

'Oh. Thanks, I'll call him later to say thanks.' Maddie replied politely.

'Okay kiddo, take care of your dad and Daphne whilst I'm away won't you?' Rayna smirked winking slightly.

Maddie nodded and pulled her mom in for a hug. 'I love you mom.' She whispered.

'Love you too.' Rayna replied, masking her tears with a laugh.

'Ok, ok, let go honey or your mom will be late.' Teddy said, impeding on their mother-daughter moment, but he was right.

'I'll see you next week alright?' Rayna informed her daughter, shrinking down so that she could search her daughter's eyes for a response.

'Yeah.' Maddie replied after a while.

'Good.' Rayna said kissing her daughter's forehead. 'Oh and remember, if Deacon asks, you _love_ the present.' Rayna said with a wink.


	15. Chapter 15

'We'll discuss this later Maddie, but right now im hungry and there's a bowl of Dim-Sum with my name on it.' Rayna told her eldest child, who had turned her back on her mother and was stomping miserably out the hotel lobby.

'Oh you mean like the fifty-foot billboard with your name on?' Daphne chirped.

'That's not funny,' Rayna warned, jokily pointing a disapproving index finger at her youngest.

'Whatever,' Daphne sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically, before following her sister out the hotel.

'What in G-d's name was that about?' Tandy looked to her sister, but before Rayna could answer an all too familiar shrill radiated from Daphne.

'DEACON!' Daphne yelped.

'Hey pretty lady, how you doing? Oh hey-no-Sue, watch it, and don't bite her.' Deacon instructed his golden Labrador whilst prying Daphne's tiny fingers out from his dog's jaw.

'Hey Uncle Deacon,' Maddie greeted him, leaning in for a hug.

'Hi sweetie, you with your momma?' Deacon inquired, searching around for Rayna.

'Yeah.' Maddie said flatly, clearly still annoyed by her mother's lack of encouragement.

Momentarily, Rayna and Tandy made their way out the hotel and into the busting streets.

'Hey!' Rayna smiled, probably too hard, she thought to herself.

'Hey to you too! Oh hey Tandy!' Deacon reciprocated Rayna's dazzling smile.

'Afternoon,' Tandy nodded coyly, having picked up on the ever increasing sexual tension.

'I didn't know you had a dog Deacon?' Tandy puzzled, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

'Me either,' Rayna quipped, bemused at the fact he hadn't told her about his new houseguest. 'But she sure is a cutie, what she called?'

An answer came out of nowhere, 'It's a boy actually, a boy named Sue.' Said a pretty dark blonde, about 5ft4 and pint-sized, who was emerging from the Lincoln town car. 'Oh I'm Stacey by the way' she smiled, stretching her arm for Rayna to shake.

Rayna shot a glance at Tandy, who was already confused; they both were, 'That the niece you were telling me about?' Tandy whispered so only Rayna could hear.

'Nope,' Rayna quipped, trying not to move her mouth or make eye contact so the pair didn't look rude.

'Rayna,' Rayna smiled, looking over to Deacon for some sort of explanation, but he was too busy lowering Sue onto the ground so the girls could pet him. 'Pleasure to meet you, y'all working together?' Rayna pried, not knowing if she wanted the answer or not. Nevertheless, she shook Stacey's hand and mustered a half-hearted smile.

'No erm actually…' It was Deacon who answered this time, he felt that he should be the one to tell Rayna, rather than she here it through the grape vine. 'She's ma', erm…'

'I'm his girlfriend.' Stacey stated matter-of-factly, confused to why Deacon was choking on his words.

'She's my girlfriend,' Deacon repeated, still getting used to the idea.

'Girlfriend?' Rayna panicked, alarm bells were ringing in her head. It had been a month since she had last seen Deacon. But after he had helped Maddie at the hospital, she had hoped that they would eventually begin to come together once again. Obviously, he had other ideas. A stab of jealousy left Rayna motionless for a short while, she looked at Deacon for answers but he was looking down to his boots, awkwardly avoiding Rayna's gaze. It was a similar predicament to what had occurred when Deacon had first met Teddy, but without the swearing and the crying and the hormones.

Tandy pulled Rayna back into the present by clearing her throat awkwardly, pinching her sister as if to tell her to say something. Rayna straightened up and brushed her hair back over shoulders, letting it tumble in the wind. 'Well that's nice.' Rayna lied, a sour glare fixated upon Deacon.

Stacey nodded in agreement with Rayna. Tandy watched closely as Rayna became more awkward and impatient by the second, she knew her sister was waiting for Deacon to explain the situation, but he didn't, he just stood talking to the young girls.

A couple of moments passed as Rayna, Stacey and Tandy kept up a trivial, extremely awkward conversation, however it was becoming too much for Rayna, she couldn't honestly stand there any longer pretending she was intrigued by this imposter's life. 'Anyways,' Rayna interrupted, and on the pretense of going out for 'good ol' Chinese food,' she politely excused herself from the situation.

'Alright girls, let's go!' Rayna gathered her children protectively before nodding farewell at Deacon and turning to smile at Stacey.

As Rayna and her sister walked arm-in-arm up fifth avenue, she was haunted by the stomach-churning sounds of lovey-dovey conversation; 'Did you hear that Stace? Chinese food, your favourite!' Rayna heard Deacon say. 'You're my favourite!' Stacey replied before leaning in to kiss Deacon lightly.

'Ugh,' Rayna rolled her eyes and followed her family around the block, trying to push out any memories of what had just transpired.

'Thank y'Danny,' Rayna beamed as a member of her security team assisted her off the stage.

'Mom that was awesome,' Maddie yelled over the deafening roar coming from the audience. 'You were so great out there.'

Rayna smiled and looped an arm around her daughter's back, 'Thanks hunny!' She said giving her daughter a squeeze, 'I can't tell you how great it is to see you rocking out back here.'

Maddie smiled widely at her mother, in awe of her ability to be this superstar on stage yet be so normal behind the scenes. Rayna hugged Maddie tightly, shielding her from the dozens of stage hands and back up dancers sprinting frantically.

Out of nowhere, Deacon approached the pair. Ever since Maddie's accident, Rayna couldn't help but notice how Maddie had become a lot closer to Deacon. It warmed her heart but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a little guilty that her daughter showed so much affection to her biological father, without actually knowing the truth; the same applied to Deacon.

'Momma did good eh?' Deacon applauded, concentrating on Rayna but lightly looking and laughing with Maddie's effervescent smile.

'She sure did, as per usual!' Maddie praised, looking up proudly at her mother.

'Thank you.' Rayna nodded to Deacon and nestled her head in Maddie's hair appreciatively.

'I like your new girlfriend.' Maddie told Deacon.

Deacon looked down and blushed, 'Well this is awkward,' he thought to himself before responding kindly, 'Well thank you, me too.' He said looking at Rayna for some indication of what to say next.

Rayna pulled away from her daughter in disbelief, pulling herself into a pout. 'She seems nice,' is all she could say because honestly she was slightly mortified by the whole situation.

Deacon smiled, a little confused. 'Yeah she is,' he swallowed.

'Pretty serious eh? Dog 'n all?' Rayna pressed, she knew she was just fishing now but she needed to know what was going on. A little over a month ago she had practically told Deacon she wanted to be with him, and now he had moved on. With someone else.

Deacon grimaced, it was not that he was embarrassed, he just wished that he had told Rayna sooner so that all this awkward tension between the two of them would have had chance to fizzle out before he brought Stacey on the tour with them. 'Might be,' he added, nodding in realisation that he did actually want a future with Stacey. He wanted simple, easy, love and that is exactly what Stacey was. There was none of the drama that he had had with Rayna. Rayna would always been his one great love, but that didn't necessarily mean it was the right love. At least not for now.

Rayna nodded, furrowing her eyebrows. 'Well you should probably get going.' She said dismissively, pulling her daughter's hand to signal that they needed to be going.

'You're probably right.' Deacon smirked; he loved it when Rayna got jealous.

'Have a good one.' Rayna said casually as she and Maddie walked away, rolling her eyes at the fact she was acting like 16 year old girl with a crush again.

Rayna skilfully dodged the various waiters in tuxedoes that were carrying the extensive collections of hors d'oeuvres, as she made her way through the lounge to the penthouse elevator. It wasn't until she heard her name being called from the bar, by a certain girlfriend, that she decided to stop for a chat.

'Hey Rayna!' It was Stacey. 'Oh the joys,' Rayna thought to herself before spinning around and smiling at the teeny blonde.

'Hi, Stacey was it?' Rayna asked pretending not to know the girl's name.

'Yeah, erm I saw your show tonight, it was great. You were great.' Stacey charmed, using her hands to exaggerate her compliment.

'Why thank you.' Rayna smiled, their conversation was surprisingly less awkward than she had thought it would be.

'Oh and the other girl, ohm, what's her name again?' Stacey puzzled.. Rayna liked her more by the second, well liking her as much as she could to say that she was completely envious of the woman.

'Juliet? Her name's Juliet.' Rayna corrected.

'Ahh right that's it, you know it's funny I didn't used to like country music but Deacon's got me listening to it more and more. I've gotta' say, the stuff's growing on me.' Stacey explained.

Rayna raised an eyebrow, so deacon was actually dating the only person in the state who hated country music, just his luck. 'So what do you do then? If you're not in the business,' Rayna interrogated, she wasn't used to having "normal" people on tour with them, and she had actually forgotten what it was like to have a conversation with someone who didn't understand the technical jargon the crew threw around.

'Oh me? I'm just a vet.' Stacey paused, waiting for Rayna's response. However Rayna didn't continue but instead sat down, implying that she wanted to hear more. The truth is, Rayna didn't want to hear about Veterinary medicine she just wanted to hear what this girl had that she didn't- besides the master's degree. Stacey continued, as Rayna knew she would. 'That's actually how we met.'

Rayna just stared at Stacey, clearly having not caught on, 'We met through his dog? Sue? Juliet thought Deac was lonely so she got him a dog. Named sue.' Stacey explained laughing at how she hadn't understood how funny the pun was.

Rayna sighed slowly and carefully, she didn't want to appear rude but she really did NOT want to hear the story of how they met. 'Aw, well isn't that a charming story.' Rayna said, standing up to leave.

'So erm you two, you and deacon, used to date right?' Stacey implored out of nowhere, leaving Rayna dumbfounded.

Rayna paused, looked at the floor, then at the ceiling, and crinkled her nose up at the sensitive issue. 'Well I would say it was a little more than dating, but it was a million years ago so you don't have anything to worry about.' Rayna lied. There was always something to worry about, heck; Stacey may as well go join the 'Rayna and Deacon collateral damage' meeting with Teddy, Liam and Juliet. 'Well would you look at the time,' Rayna quipped looking down at the dazzling Cartier watch on her wrist,' I really should be going, y'know ive got the girls and everything.' Rayna excused herself, hopping down off the bar stool.

'Oh okay.' Stacey replied slightly disappointed.

Rayna began to walk away but turned around after only a couple of steps, 'Hey Stacey,' she shouted.

'Yeah?' Stacey quizzed.

'It was really, really nice to meet you.' Rayna said truthfully. She would never admit it out loud but Stacey was a nice girl, she was good for Deacon right now.

'You too.' Stacey smiled, shrugging and waving goodbye to Rayna. Rayna waved back and turned rapidly on the heels of her cowboy boots, only to bump into Deacon as he quickly approached the bar.

'Oh watch it pretty lady,' Deacon said, flashing that million dollar smile at Rayna, before he processed who it was. 'Hey.' He said.

'Hey,' Rayna replied, moving awkwardly out of his way and avoiding his gaze, embarrassed by his comment.

Deacon just stood gawkily, 'Well have a nice night.' He finally replied before heading to the bar.

'You too.' Rayna said quietly, as she stalked off rolling her eyes and mentally slapping herself. All she wanted to do was crack open a bottle of wine and watch some trashy chick flick so she could see people with a worse love life than hers.

-Meanwhile at the bar-

'Hey you!' Deacon smiled, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend.

'Hey.' Stacey replied bluntly, looking around the room for any potential drama.

'Can I get you anything?' the bartender asked Deacon, who declined politely.

'How's it going?' Deacon asked dorkily, smitten by the woman facing him.

'Erm it's going.' Stacey whispered as her eyes glazed over with tears, however she refused to cry.

'Excuse me?' Deacon asked confused.

'Look I knew when you asked me here, that it wouldn't be easy. And I knew I wouldn't have your attention 100% of the time, and I knew I wouldn't fit in with all these "artsy" people, no offence, but I didn't think it would be as hard as this.' She reasoned.

'What do you mean? I thought everything was going great?' Deacon asked, raising one eyebrow in wonder.

'Erm it was. 'til I spoke to Rayna. Are you trying to scare me away by inviting me on a tour where you have had intimate relationships with both women?'

'Wait, how do you know about Rayna?' Deacon puzzled, he had told Stacey a short while ago that he had a brief fling with Juliet, but it meant nothing as they were just good friends now. Rayna, on the other hand was a different matter entirely; bringing up Rayna meant bringing up his past, and he r_eally _did not want to have to go down that road.

'I don't live under a rock Deacon, your relationship was plastered on every single newsstand a good month and a half ago.'

'Oh, Stacey, Rayna and I, we, er, had a complicated, intense relationship. But we haven't dated for a good 13 years, that is history. You are my present.' Deacon soothed, caressing his girlfriend's hand in reassurance.

'I just didn't expect to have to hear about your "intense" relationship from a weird kabooky conversation with a woman you have been singing love songs with for the last two decades.' Stacey gulped.

Deacon smirked and let out a deep laugh. 'What?!' Stacey snapped.

'Kabooky?' Deacon laughed. 'Who says that?' he continued to smirk, trying to lighten up the situation.

Stacey swatted him playfully, 'that is beside the point Deacon,' she said becoming every inch more serious.

'Look Stacey, I don't know what else to say, I should have explained my relationship with Rayna, it is long and complicated and far too many people got hurt for my liking. But it is history. I promise' Deacon pleaded.

'Okay, im trusting you on this, I just didn't want to get involved anymore with someone who's heart belonged to someone else.'

'You're right, but my heart belongs to you right now. So we good?' He smiled, taking her hand and searching her eyes for an answer.

'Yeah we're good.' Stacey was positively gleaming, she leaned in and kissed Deacon softly on the lips.

-Soundcheck-

Deacon couldn't help himself; he was too intrigued by the unfamiliar harmonies echoing throughout the stadium. They were definitely too young to be Rayna, and too soft for Juliet, so unless the tour had picked up a new headliner, it was someone else on stage. As he turned the corner to enter the staging area, he was shocked, but not completely surprised to see that it was Maddie and little Daphne on stage performing. 'Yikes they were good.' Deacon mused to himself. Looking around the room, he saw Rayna glowing in admiration of the two beautiful girls she had created. He knew that the two of them were in an awkward patch, it couldn't have been easy for her to find out about Stacey so abruptly, but it had been a lot, lot worse when he found about Teddy. So the playing fields were level right now. Deacon watched gleefully as the band and Rayna joined in for the 'Ho's and the 'Hey's, the girls were unparalleled.

'Ho!' Deacon chimed in, in order to gather Rayna's attention without drawing her away from her daughters.

Rayna spun around at the sound of Deacon's voice, 'How long had he been standing there?' she thought to herself. Nevertheless, she reciprocated his HO with a 'Hey'! Tipping her head back and gleefully laughing. She could not contain how proud she was of her girls, she wanted to speak to Deacon properly, but not now, not when she was witnessing the birth of something amazing.

The girls finished their song, Rayna looked back to see Deacon clapping proudly, she was glad he could have been there to witness that, to see how well Maddie was doing. As she turned to make her way over to him, he turned away and began to walk back into his dressing room, Rayna looked at her watch, show time in little under an hour and a half.

'Mom!' Her girls screamed, running up to their mother and draping themselves around her in sheer excitement.

'Hi babies! Y'all were amazing up there!' Rayna exclaimed, squeezing her girls tightly.

'Did you see everyone was watching?' Daphne squealed, Rayna could feel the adrenaline coming from her.

'I sure did sweetie, and Maddie; where did you learn to play guitar like that? 'Cos I know it wasn't from me.'

'Just lessons you know…oh and Uncle Deacon helped me a bit, he's really good.' Maddie beamed.

Rayna raised an eyebrow at her eldest, 'He's the best of the best, and when did this happen?' Rayna quizzed.

'The other week, when I was in hospital, he was telling me all about how to get the smoothest tune.'

'I bet he did.' Rayna stated in amusement, cocking her head to one side as she ushered her girls into the dressing rooms.

- Backstage-

Rayna swerved in and out of the hustle and bustle of backstage, she had less than half an hour until she was due on stage and she was still out of costume and had rollers in her hair. There were dancers, stylists and roadies mingling amongst the crew and all Rayna wanted to do was get to the serenity of her dressing room.

'Hey.' Deacon gleamed, appearing out of nowhere.

'Hi.' Rayna said in a daze, blushing ever so slightly.

'So the girls, they were, erm. Just wow.' Deacon stammered, trying to find the right words to describe what he had witnessed.

'Thank you. And thank you for helping Maddie with the guitar y'know, it was very sweet of you to do.' Rayna said, placing her hand gently on Deacon's arm.

'Of course, I didn't expect anything less when they have you as a mom.' Deacon smiled down at Rayna.

'Well you know, it isn't easy doing it by myself.' Rayna said weakly, she didn't want to sound like she was fishing for pity, she just wanted to let at least one person know how she was feeling.

'You've done a great job so far Ray, don't worry, I couldn't think of anyone better.' He said leaning in to hug Rayna.

The two of them embraced, Rayna buried her head in Deacon's arm, she just really needed some support right now. It wasn't until Deacon broke the hug, sooner than usual, did she realise what was really going on. Rayna pulled back and began to walk away.

'Oh by the way, I really like Stacey.' She smiled, softly, not knowing what else to say.

'Thank you.' Deacon strained, not wanting to make the situation any more intense than it already was.

'I'm glad you're happy again.'

Deacon smiled at Rayna, their attraction was undeniable but he knew that if he was going to have a chance at a life with Stacey, Rayna could not be his priority right now. So he turned, and walked away.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey y'all! so i will be uploading two chapters for episode 1x17, just because the total length of one would have been overwhelming for you guys. The second chapter will be uploaded later this week/next week so that you have something to look forward to during, yet another, hiatus. Hope you all like it.**

**p.s. thank you for the reviews so far xxxx**

Deacon rapidly whipped out his iPhone from his back pocket as he made his way into the lobby. He paused for a moment and mused over this morning's revelations, the lobby of the hotel was bursting with crew, dancers, singers, VIPs, roadies and Avery. Deacon laughed to himself, it's not that he didn't like Avery, being honest he didn't really spend time to get to know him, Deacon just found it highly amusing that his career had gone up in flames so suddenly.

'_Karma's a bitch_,' Deacon thought to himself. Speaking of karma, Deacon remembered why he had entered the lobby in the first place; he needed to get out the noisy streets of New York and into somewhere a little saner, so that he could call Rayna, although he hadn't anticipated for the lobby to be so rumbustious. Deacon quickly dialled #2 on his speed dial; 'Rayna' his phone read. The phone rang six times before Deacon was transferred to voicemail, the familiar velvety sound of Rayna's voice greeted him on the other side.

'Hey its Rayna, sorry I can't take your call right now but if you leave a message I'll be sure to get back to y'all...' Rayna's answerphone message sang.

Deacon smirked sourly, giving himself a mental reality check; he hadn't actually expected Rayna to take his calls during this crisis? Had he? Anyways, he let the message continue before clearing his throat and speaking down the phone.

'Hey Ray, it's me, erm I'm really sorry about your dad. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you but I want you to know that I'm thinking about you... and the girls. Anyways they say we might be cancelin' tonight so it must be pretty bad. Erm I imagine the whole thing is really complex nd' everything so I just wanted you to know…erm Yeah, so, er, just give me a call back when you get this.' Deacon added awkwardly.

What he said hadn't exactly been a lie, he wasn't sorry that Lamar was suffering, 'The sonofabitch had it comin'' Deacon's thoughts rang. But he felt horrendously guilty that he couldn't be there to support Rayna. Having Stacey in his life meant that he had to put Rayna second for a change, so yesterday he had made it pretty clear to the both of them that Stacey was his priority now. That did not, for one second mean that he didn't care for Rayna, he always would; the two of them were bonded for eternity.

'Hey Deacon,' yelled Steve, the stage manager, over the buzz of the crowd.

'Hi' Deacon replied solemnly, he wasn't really in the mood to talk with anyone right now, he just need to know what was going on with tonight's show. ' We cancelin'?' Deacon questioned.

'Nope!' Steve replied with a slight groan,' Juliet is gonna go on.' He stated breathlessly.

Deacon smirked and looked down, bemused, 'O'course she is,'. Juliet didn't give a crap about Rayna's situation, if she had she would have shown a little compassion and cancelled the show; '_it's one show for christ's sake!'_ Deacon thought, growing angrier by the second.

'Anyways,' Emily interrupted his thoughts, 'Juliet wants you to teach the band these,' she said collecting for Deacon ten sets of music.

'Ten new songs?' Deacon exclaimed in shock.

'She said they weren't new to you and that she's keeping it simple.' Emily stammered in Juliet's defense.

'Yeah well she and I obviously have different ideas of simple.' He snapped, snatching the paper's out of Emily's hand and storming out the hotel.

…

Rayna paced back and forth through the hospital corridor, she wasn't exactly sure what she was feeling right now. She hated hospitals, she really did. Ever since her mom had died all she always associated hospitals with death, which is why when Maddie had been committed, she had freaked out so badly. Her phone vibrated gently in her hands; it was Deacon. Her heart jumped a little at the sight of his name, however she didn't pick up, she couldn't speak to him at this moment, not in the state she was in. Lightly tapping the 'ignore call' option, she put her phone into her back pocket and continued to pace the halls.

Half of her was in complete and utter shock at the bombshell Watty had just planted on her…

'_Mom had a singer-songwriter friend_.' She recalled Tandy saying, it had only been eight months since she had found that out, and although the initial affair hadn't tarnish the image of her mother; this did.

All this time Rayna had thought that her mother was trapped; unable to do anything, that Lamar was simply suffocating his grip on her. That was true. But it was also a lie. Her mother had run, she had left her children and run; to Watty. Granted, she didn't get far, but the sole fact that her mother had abandoned her with her father, left a bitter taste in Rayna's mouth. Rayna had spent her life trying to live up to her mother's memory, always doing the right thing, putting everybody's feelings above hers, because that is what her mother had done. _Or_ at least that is what Rayna thought her mother had done.

The other half of Rayna, felt extreme remorse and sympathy for her father, as well as anger, frustration and a strange emptiness that she couldn't explain. '_Everything makes sense now,'_ she thought to herself; well at least it was trying to make sense.

Rayna knew that her father only resented her because of what had transpired over forty years ago between Watty and her mother. Then Rayna thought about Watty. A man, who over the past twenty five years, had been her strongest fan, her backbone and the father figure in her life, right now she couldn't be dealing with him, she felt like questioning every decision he had made for her. '_Had he done all this for me? Or for my mother?'_ Rayna thought to herself, trying to allow herself to fathom how she had ended up where she was today.

Then she thought about her father, obviously, it still ate away at him that his wife had left him, or died trying to. No wonder he had suffered another heart attack, the damage to his ego alone was enough to send him on a downwards spiral. Rayna was just thankful that it had happened on hospital turf, there had been enough time to get him to the emergency room for bypass surgery before anything else had the chance to occur. Rayna felt a strange uneasiness come over her, the soreness and heaviness of her eyes alerted her that the waterworks had been turned on, largely due to a combination of exhaustion, guilt and adrenaline.

Rayna continued to pace the hallway of the ER waiting room for several minutes, she found that walking, and focusing on trying to put one foot in front of the other, helped her clear her head. Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, Rayna slumped onto one of the arm chairs provided by the hospital. Pulling out her phone, she tossed her hair back out of her face in order to freshen up. Rayna scrolled through her notifications until she reached Deacon's message, clicking play she leant back and closed her eyes so she could concentrate on listening…

'Hey Ray, it's me, erm I'm really sorry about your dad. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you but I want you to know that I'm thinking about you...and the girls. Anyways they say we might be cancelin' tonight so it must be pretty bad. Erm I imagine the whole thing is really complex nd' everything so I just wanted you to know…erm Yeah, so, er, just give me a call back when you get this.' She heard him say with sincerity…mostly.

Sighing, Rayna leaned forward and rested her head in her palms. At this point, she had no idea what to do, she wanted to talk to him about everything; her dad, her mom, Watty and them, she needed to get what she was feeling off her chest. Voices ran through her head of her mom, her dad and Watty. Perhaps the saddest thing about this situation was that she couldn't speak to Watty anymore because it would be bias, and she couldn't speak honestly to Deacon because of Stacey. She didn't want to ruin his happiness- did she?

Rayna bit her lip and began to dial Deacons number, it was only when she was approached by Tandy, did she cease to call.

'Hey,' her sister said softly, pulling her younger sibling in for a hug.

'Hi,' Rayna replied hugging tightly.

'You doing alright?' Tandy asked Rayna, pulling away so she could look her sister in the eye.

Rayna shrugged lamely, not really knowing how to respond.

'Me too.' Tandy replied in understanding.

'Excuse me, Ms Wyatt, Ms Jaymes,' a nurse said, nodding the too redheads facing him.

'Hi how is he?' Tandy puzzled urgently.

'He's sedated, the bypass was successful but we are still keeping him under watch for another twenty four hours.' He informed the sisters.

'When can we see him?' Rayna asked impatiently.

'You're welcome to see him now but he won't be responsive, I suggest you both go home and get some rest.'

'Thank you.' Tandy nodded to the nurse, politely signalling him to give them privacy.

'No problem.' The nurse replied as he turned and walked away.

Tandy turned to face her sister once again, 'Why don't I stay with him? You go home and see the girls.'

Rayna interrupted before she could say anymore, 'No, you know what the girls are already asleep and let me take him off your hands for a change, I don't mind.'

Tandy stared at her sister in disbelief for a moment before responding, 'Yeah, you sure?' she asked and Rayna nodded. 'Well I could really use a shower…' she trailed, smiling ever so gently. Tandy made her way to her belongings and began to get ready to leave.

Rayna watched her sister carefully, ever since the revelation this morning she had been acting oddly. It troubled Rayna. 'Hey did you know?' Rayna asked.

Tandy spun around and stared vacantly at her sister.

Rayna continued, 'did you know it was Watty that mom had the affair with?' she whispered, mouthing the word affair just in case anyone was eavesdropping.

Tandy looked guiltily at her earnest younger sister. Rayna nodded in understanding. 'I just don't get why you didn't tell me about it when you told me about the affair?' Rayna puzzled, confused to why her sister would hide something that huge from her.

Tandy sat down carefully, 'I didn't know how to tell you something like that, it would have broken your heart, and I certainly wasn't gonna do that.'

Rayna absorbed what she was hearing; her eyes began to glaze over so she rolled them in frustration. 'What do you remember about mom?' she asked weakly.

Tandy rolled her eyes, copying her sister, it was clear to Rayna that it wasn't just herself who was hurting right now,' Just that she was a lot like you,' Tandy said, voice breaking ever so gently, watching as Rayna smiled softly, 'and that's why daddy never said anything about it, no matter how much it hurt him, no matter how much it changed him.' Rayna let a couple of tears fall as she listened to her sister. 'And you wonder why he was so screwed up when he found out about you and Deacon you know? It just reminded him of mom. But he worshiped her, so much.' She added.

Rayna inhaled, the sound of Deacon's name being mentioned made her feel guilty. She had practically been reliving her mother's life in front of her daddy for all these years, it explained why he had always sided with Teddy, until the divorce that is. 'Erm, why don't you go have that shower?' Rayna asserted, not wanting to hear any more in fear she may collapse.

Tandy nodded, looking deeply into Rayna's eyes for a sign of response, but she saw nothing. 'Alright.' She said before kissing her sister gently on the cheek as she left, 'I love you.' Tandy added as she left the room.

Rayna sat motionless for a moment in order to regain her thoughts of what she was doing before she had spoken with Tandy. Deacon. Looking down to her phone she saw his number half dialled, continuing to do so, she pulled the phone up to her ear.

'Hey this is Deacon, leave a message. K bye.' Rayna rolled her eyes out of exasperation, she desperately needed to speak to him.

'Hey, well you're probably in the middle of a show right now, well ma' dad just got out of surgery and im sitting here, waitin' for him t'wake up. It's been a pretty strange day today, and im just hopin' im gonna get another chance to have a conversation with him. Anyways, I just wanted to call you to say thank you for calling me,' she smiled amongst the tears at her rambling, 'so I'll talk to you later.'

And with that, Rayna hung up, slipped her phone into her jean pocket and made her way to her father's side, where she eventually nestled into a cosy armchair; watching him sleep peacefully.

…

Deacon stormed off the stage, tonight had without a doubt been his least favourite performance ever. Only his final performance with the Revel Kings came close, but at least they hadn't pissed him off yet. After this evening's show he had seen Juliet in a whole new light. Heck, he had probably just witnessed what everyone else had been complaining about, he had just let his empathy for her get in the way of that- not anymore. As he hastily brushed past the bubble of people back stage, he felt his phone buzz. It was Rayna. He was just relieved that for once she hadn't waited so long to talk to him, that's all he wanted really. He clicked play and pulled his phone to his ear.

'Hey, well you're probably in the middle of a show right now, well ma' dad just got out of surgery and im sitting here, waitin' for him t'wake up. It's been a pretty strange day today, and im just hopin' im gonna get another chance to have a conversation with him.' Deacon heard the pain in her voice as he moved into his dressing room so that he could listen properly. 'Anyways, I just wanted to call you to say thank you for calling me, so I'll talk to you later.'

Deacon stuck his phone back into his pocket smoothly; there was fragility in her voice that he hadn't heard in a long while. All the drama from the past month or so hadn't had as much of an impact on her as this had. It was quite ironic really. Spend your life hating your father, then realising what you had only when it was too late.

Suddenly, Juliet came storming in like a spitfire. 'Hey! What the hell was that?!'

Deacon spun around, 'Look if there is issues between us, you come and talk to me about that, I don't need your boy toy shrink lecturing me about it okay.' He spat.

'So you ignore me during my entire show because I shared about you in my therapy lesson-' she yelled, only she was cut off by Deacon's retaliation.

'I wasn't ignoring you-'

'Whatever. Or was it because you're just pissed off you're not my go-to guy anymore?' she snarled.

Deacon breathed in, he didn't want to lose his temper even more than he already had, but Juliet was getting on his last nerve. 'Trust me, I do not want to be your go-to guy, at this point I barely even want to be your friend.' He pointed a finger at Juliet as his pulse rate began to rise.

Juliet scoffed in disbelief, and flared her nostrils, 'And when was the last time you were my friend Deacon?'

He didn't respond but instead saw the opportunity to get everything off his chest. 'YOU'RE GETTING THIS GUY TO GO AROUND FIRING PEOPLE FOR NO REASON! YOU'RE GETTING THE BAND TO LEARN SONGS IN NO TIME WHATSOEVER. AND YOU'RE PLAYING SHOWS THAT SHOULD BE CANCELLED.' He roared, shaking his head in disapproval at all the recent immaturity Juliet has been demonstrating.

'WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO CANCEL MY SHOW?!' Juliet retaliated.

Deacon could not believe himself at this girl's tenacity, his eyes grew wild with rage, 'BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN THERE IS A FAMILY EMERGENCY!'

Juliet stood in front of him tapping her foot on the ground dramatically, reeling in the moment' RAYNA IS NOT MY FAMILY!' _Didn't he get it?_ She thought. _Of course he didn't, its "Rayna"_. 'OH AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, SHE AIN'T YOURS EITHER.' She added.

That was it. Deacon had heard enough. Obviously Juliet didn't understand that his and Rayna's relationship ran far deeper than what she thought. After twenty-six years in each other's lives, did Juliet really not understand that his loyalty to Rayna would not fade? They were each other's family. Nothing would change that, not Lamar, not Teddy, not Stacey, sure as heck Juliet wasn't gonna change that. Just because he had chosen her tour over Rayna's didn't mean he had chosen Juliet over Rayna. When it came down to it, he would always choose Rayna.

Cocking his head to one side, Deacon stomped his way out of the dressing room. He had made it about two ft out the room before he realised he had left something very important unsaid. He poked his head round the corner to see Juliet stood in total and utter shock, lips pursed in anticipation to hear what Deacon had to say.

'Yes she is.'


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi everyone, im sorry for splitting the chapters but i felt that they would have been too long to put into one. plus this has given you something to look forward to during ANOTHER hiatus :( i hope everyone likes this chapter and please review and read, i take all your thoughts into consideration when writing! **

**-Enjoy! xx**

Deacon marched breathlessly to the reception desk in the ICU, he had just spent the two hours by himself on the redeye, to say that he was tired was an understatement. The receptionist didn't bother to look up from her admin, but did acknowledge is presence.

'May I help you?' She asked dryly as she filed some complex looking papers into a folder that was about to burst.

'Yeah, uh, I'm here to see Lamar Wyatt?' Deacon asked, surprised at himself that the day had come where he would actually have to use that phrase.

'Name?' The receptionist asked in the same tone as before.

'Deacon. Deacon Claybourne.' Deacon added, he hated to name drop but this was a matter of emergency.

'Oh my…' Said the receptionist, becoming ever so flustered, 'I'm ever so sorry Mr Claybourne, it's just that we didn't have you on the visitor's registry. Visiting hours haven't actually begun yet, seeing how its 2a.m. but I may have to make an exception.' She added smiling.

Deacon rolled his eyes slightly but thanked her even so. 'Well thank you ma'am, if you just tell me his room number im sure I'll be able to find it.'

'Don't you worry yourself about that, I'll show you,' the nurse added, rising from behind her desk and gesturing for Deacon to follow her, 'it's this way…it sure is nice of you to come see Lamar, aren't you s'posed on a big tour right now though?' she quizzed.

Deacon paused to think before he replied, he wasn't here to see Lamar, he was here for Rayna, and Lamar was just an unavoidable obstacle he would have to deal with, for now. 'Yeah well you know, it's a family crisis so I thought I should come show my support. And I was.'

The receptionist raised an eyebrow, she paused and pointed to the last room on the corridor, 'Mr Wyatt and Ms Jaymes are right through there Mr Claybourne.' She said softly, smiling ever so slightly, apparently Deacon hadn't fooled her.

'Thanks.' Deacon replied. The nurse left him alone; Deacon stood watching the pale curtain that divided himself from Rayna and Lamar. Collecting his thoughts, Deacon prepared himself as he pulled the curtain away gently. The sight, to say the least, was something new, he wasn't used to seeing Lamar looking vulnerable, heck, he was half expecting Lamar to open his eyes and start beating him. But he didn't; he lay motionless, the only sound was the blipping of the IV. After absorbing his surroundings Deacon's eyes immediately darted to Rayna, who was fast asleep in the comfort of an arm chair. Deacon watched for a few seconds, taking in the sight of her beauty, her hair and her serenity, before placing his bags quietly at his feet.

Kneeling down onto one knee, Deacon inhaled before pushing a hair out from Rayna's eyes and gently stroking her shoulder. Rayna woke up instantly, jerking ever so slightly at the surprise, before widening her eyes just to make sure they weren't deceiving her.

'Hey you,' Deacon whispered breezily.

Rayna sighed but didn't respond, _'How long was I asleep for?_' she thought to herself, she quickly glanced up at the clock; it read 02:15, '_only an hour,'_ Rayna silently cried before reaching out to caress Deacon's fingers that were placed on her arm. Their fingers moved in harmony as Rayna and Deacon looked at each other, eye contact so strong nothing could have broken. Deacon could see in her eyes the combination of her emotions; exhaustion, sadness, pain. The two ex-lovers stared at each other, as if to ask for permission, before Rayna pulled Deacon into a sweet embrace.

Rayna wrapped her arms around Deacon's neck, she desperately needed the support he was offering, if not, she was gonna lose it. Clinging on tightly, she exhaled as for the first time that day she had felt stable enough just to be herself. Deacon rested his face into Rayna's luscious hair, it had been years since they had been this intimate. Even the kiss in Chicago, which had been a momentary lapse between the two of them, wasn't like this. This however, this was real. This was Deacon and Rayna being Deacon and Rayna, without the care or suspicion of prying eyes watching their every move. Pulling her even more into his torso, Deacon thought about the dangerous game they were playing, it was the constant push and pull the two of them had perfected over the last decade. Except now they were pulling, and neither of them wanted it to end.

Rayna was the first one to break away, so that she could look him in the eye. 'I thought y'all had a show to do?' she puzzled, frowning ever so slightly. This was the first time, since she had left New York that she had even thought about music.

'We did. I mean, Juliet did, she went on anyways…we actually got into a really big fight, but I don't wanna burden you with that. How you doing?' he asked, sitting in the chair, mimicking her position.

'Some things never change…' Rayna trailed off. 'I-I-I'm not doing too good y'know, had a rough day 'n all, f-f-found out something I would never thought I'd have to hear.' Rayna replied, trying to prevent herself from crying by rolling her eyes back into her head. It didn't work, tears began to trickle slowly down her cheek, Deacon leaned in and brushed them off of her face.

Putting his hand on hers he looked at her deeply, 'You wanna talk 'bout it?' he asked, searching her eyes for an answer.

Rayna nodded, 'Yeah I do, and I've wanted to talk to you about everything. I just didn't know how to without dragging y'all through the mud y'know?'

Deacon nodded, 'I know.'

Rayna inhaled deeply, trying to muster up the courage to tell Deacon about today's revelation, she hadn't managed to even tell herself without breaking down. 'So erm, Watty came by earlier,' she began, 'erm and he,he told me a few things. Things that changed everything.' She gulped.

'What things?' Deacon asked, becoming ever more so intrigued by the second, he could sense from the alerting look of distress painted upon Rayna's face that something was eating away at her.

'He was the guy Deacon.' She stated simply, not knowing what else to say.

'What guy?' Deacon puzzled, turning his head, oblivious to what Rayna was telling him.

Rayna suddenly realised she hadn't even told Deacon about her mom's affair, so much crap happened in those few weeks when she found out, she had completely forgotten to confined in him.

'Ray, look, you know you can tell me anything.' He reassured her, stroking her hand.

Rayna looked down to their entwined hands, feeling slightly guilty, _'not everything'_, she thought to herself. She squeezed his hand and continued, 'My mom, she er, had an affair…' she whispered, not wanting to cause her father the pain in hearing her tell their personal life to an outsider.

'Are you sure?' Deacon asked in disbelief.

Rayna nodded, wiping away the last remaining tears and clearing her throat,' Yeah erm, she had an affair for about ten years. It was Watty.'

Deacon's jaw dropped in disbelief, 'Watty White? Our Watty?'

Rayna didn't reply vocally, she just nodded gravely.

'How, when, what. How did you find out?'

'He came by, y'know just to give me is best wishes, and well Daddy saw him. and y'know what Daddy's like….' Rayna's voice began to break.

'Hey there,' Deacon comforted, caressing her cheek, 'I don't like seeing you when you're upset, I'm gonna go get you an espresso…maybe a double looking at the state you're in.' Deacon stood up, he wasn't really sure how to respond, all this time he had just presumed that Lamar had disapproved of Rayna's career because he disapproved of him, not because of anything like this. Not because of Watty. '_Everything was making sense now- sorta'' _Deacon thought to himself.

'Thank you.' Rayna said earnestly, patting Deacon on the arm in appreciation.

Rayna watched as Deacon disappeared behind the white curtain, shielding her from the outside world. Reclining deep into her arm chair, Rayna thought deeply about today, her daddy, Watty and especially Deacon. She hadn't thought that one phone call would make him leave the tour and fly all the way back to Nashville; she would have been fine just hearing his soothing voice. She could feel the all too familiar fluttering inside of her; Deacon had flown 883 miles to see her, _to be with her. _Rayna tuned to face her father, who was lying soundly in the hospital bed. '_Thank goodness for sedatives'_ Rayna thought to herself, he would not be pleased to know that Deacon would be joining them -again.

'Feeling any better Sleeping Beauty?' Deacon teased, appearing behind Rayna, making her jump.

Rayna shook her head randomly as she mused over her emotions, 'Just a little bit, his heart rate hasn't dropped which is always a good sign.' She smiled half-heartedly.

Deacon handed her the double espresso and sat down in the chair next to her, not taking his eyes off her as she drank.

Rayna gulped the hot, enticing liquid, surprised to see that Deacon remembered how she took it,' Two sugars and just a pinch of cinnamon?' she asked in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

'Of course, how could I forget? You used to physically attack me if I got your order mixed up.' Deacon laughed, choking down his own drink.

Rayna looked down and smirked, 'Well I did have a bit of a temper on me.'

'Something's never change Rayna…' he smiled to himself, thinking back at all their happy memories.

The two drank in silence, staring at each other, smiling, and just enjoying one another's company. Deacon just being there was already healing the scars of the day.

'So,' Deacon spoke, breaking the silence, Rayna sat up alert,' You wanna tell me what's been going on then?'

Rayna gulped but mustered a half smile, 'Yes, sorry, I completely forgot, I had wanted to talk to you about it that day in the park in October.'

Deacon grimaced, that day had not been one of their finest moments, Rayna had broken down in front of him and he didn't want to relive the memory of it, especially not now. 'But you didn't?'

'No. I had gone to see daddy, and he had, erm yelled, said all the usual stuff about my music, leaving the girls to go on tour…with _you._' She added.

'Alright,' Deacon nodded, trying to follow the tangent Rayna had gone off on.

'So, I found out back then that my mom had an affair up until the day she died apparently.' Rayna sobbed, she hadn't anticipated for herself to break down so quickly, and not at such an extent.

'Shh, Ray don't do that. You're upset because you didn't know it was Watty?' he asked gingerly.

'I don't know, in one way yeah kinda, I guess. Im more upset that my mom left us.' She blurted out, covering her mouth, she hadn't want to speak about that because she felt that if she told no one it wouldn't been true. All her life Rayna had looked up to her mother as a moral compass, that if she followed her mom's guidance, she would have a successful, happy marriage.

'What?' Deacon asked monotonically, his gaze deepened and fixated on Rayna.

'She left us Deacon, she took the cowards way out. She didn't stay and fight it out. She left me, and Tandy. She was our mother.' Rayna stammered on, she wasn't really speaking to Deacon directly, she was just getting how she felt off her chest. Anger, hurt, betrayal.

'Shhh, now c'mon, you know she wasn't leaving you, she was leaving Lamar. You need to know and remember that okay?' Deacon leaned forward, put his hand in hers and squeezed it gentley.

'I think that the most upsetting part of it all, is that she died that night. The night she died, her bags were packed.' Rayna rolled her eyes upwards, she would not break down again.

For once, Deacon didn't know what to say. In the twenty five years he had known Rayna, he had always known what to say, the two were and would always be connected that level, however, at this moment he couldn't muster up anything but a bleak smile of reassurance and a caress of the shoulder.

Rayna shrugged in understanding, the revelation of her mother and Watty's affair was probably just as shocking to Deacon as it was to her. 'Strangely,' she spoke with calmness again, 'it feels like I knew my mother better today…and that I didn't know my father at all.' She mused.

Deacon nodded in agreement, 'Yeah well you saw through a different lens now…which makes sense seeing how you were only twelve when your mom died.'

Rayna nodded.

'Y'know things look different through the eyes of a twelve year old.' He added softly encouraging her that it was okay to feel how she was feeling.

Gulping, Rayna momentarily thought about Maddie, and what would happen if anything destructive happened to her, looking back over to Deacon she felt the familiar sense of guilt creeping upon her. Rayna changed to subject to bring in a lighter, tension-free atmosphere, before the conversation got any more intense than it already was. 'Or the eyes of a sixteen year old getting kicked outta' the house.' She smirked at Deacon, taking a sip of her coffee.

Deacon breathed heavily and widened his eyes in amusement, it felt like yesterday when that had happened, Rayna had come over and they had written almost a whole album by the time she got a hold of her emotions. 'Ah,' he mused, 'I remember that, was back when Watty brought you your first paying gig.' He smiled, which only made her smile.

Rayna sat in silence for a couple of seconds before cracking up into a fit of giggles, everything, all the fights, and all the angst all the unnecessary groundings finally made sense. 'No wonder daddy got so furious at me? That was probably the biggest fight we've ever had, kicked me out the damn house.' She chortled.

Deacon laughed with her, he was just pleased she wasn't musing over her mother anymore, she didn't need the extra stress…especially with the divorce. 'The way I remember it,' he began, mimicking Lamar, 'is that you were allowed to stay in his house but you had to live by his rules.'

Rayna chuckled at the horrendous impression Deacon was putting on, 'It's a good thing you're one heck of a musician because acting is not your forte. But seriously, that was never gonna happen now was it?' she laughed, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

Deacon shook his head softly, 'Most certainly wasn't…so you left.' He said.

'Guess I got that from my mom,' Rayna said lightly, not trying to make the conversation awkward but she was beginning to notice similarities crop up, 'I did have a mouth on me though…'

'Like I said, something's never change Rayna.' Deacon said trying to diffuse the growing tension.

Rayna giggled playfully and swatted deacon on the arm, 'Shut up.' She joked.

The two laughed, the site of Rayna truly smiling was enough to make Deacon beam, even in these circumstances.

'Thank you for coming,' Rayna struggled, reaching out to hold his hand, eyes wide in anticipation.

Deacon took her hand, 'Well you know, I just heard something in your voice in that message, y'know, sounded like you needed…me' he chocked.

'_She needed me' _he replayed in his head. After almost thirteen years it had happened, she needed him once again, not as a band leader, not as a friend but as himself. So they could be Deacon and Rayna. Remembering back to the fight they had had at the country club, Deacon grimaced as he reminisced about that evening.

_'I thought you needed me.'_

_'I do need you.' Rayna replied tearing up._

_'You know what, I don't even know what to do with that anymore.' He had said._

_'Well I don't know what to do either,' she had said, pacing the room teary-eyed before she sat down,' but now im gonna have to go home.'_

_'We done here?' Deacon asked, not wanting to have this fight AGAIN._

_'Yeah. We are done.' Rayna had stated simply. She knew what she had to do, she wasn't gonna enjoy doing it but it was the only way forward. 'You can have Bucky write you a reference, I'm sure Juliet would love to have you on her tour.' _

_Deacon looked over to Rayna, eyes burning in anger and hurt, she was really letting him go this time. This was it. They were over.'_

Deacon was pulled out of his day dreaming at the sound of Rayna's voice, 'I do,' she added softly. Deacon looked down to his feet; an overwhelming, all-consuming feeling had crept up on him. he had gotten so comfortable over the past hour or so being with Rayna, he had forgotten that he was trying to move forward. 'I should go.' He said, wanting to escape before he did something he would later regret. He had forgotten what it was like to spend time with Rayna without cryptic conversation, yelling or kissing. He missed it.

The pair stood up and made their way over to the exit, 'Say hi to Stacey for me?' Rayna mustered, she liked Stacey, if she made Deacon happy, and she liked her.

Deacon stood wide eyed in disbelief at the tremendous effort of enthusiasm Rayna was emitting, truth be said, he had not been supportive of Teddy at all, so he certainly wasn't expecting it from Rayna. In fact, he was more surprised to realise how quickly he had forgotten Stacey even existed, being back in that room, just the two of them (and Lamar but he wasn't really a presence), they had managed to slip into their old routine so easily.

'You take care Ray.' Was all he said, before smiling and walking away…

- One hour later-

Rayna's eyes searched around the room of the hospital, only an hour ago the room had felt so warm and cosy, now it was spacious and cold. She looked to her father, who was resting soundly, an overwhelming array of emotions passed through her body, she never would have thought she would actually be empathising with her father.

Reaching forward, Rayna's hand hovered in the hair before gaining the confidence to rest it in his.

'Hey daddy.' She said nervously, not knowing why when he wasn't awake to criticise her. 'I just wanted to say that I wish you'd have told me about all this. Instead of being so angry with me all these years. 'Cause that's what it felt like. It just felt like you were mad at me all the time and I realise that you were probably just mad at mom.' Rayna's throat was sore from the backlog of salty tears, her eyes began to well up for the fifth time that day, but she continued never the less, she needed her father to know this; just in case anything happened. 'And I don't blame you for that, I just feel that we missed our lives together a little bit.' She managed to stammer out.

Suddenly her father's eyes opened, 'Daddy?' she exclaimed quietly, wide eyed in utter shock.

'R-Rayna,' he smiled with exhaustion.

'Daddy? Did you hear that?'

Lamar nodded and smiled and looked over to his daughter who had slumped back into her chair in relief.

-Meanwhile-

Deacon pulled up in front of Stacey's little blue house, hopping out his trunk he pulled out his phone to see who had text him. It was Juliet. Not Rayna. His heart sank a little.

Making his way up the steps to his girlfriend's door, he thought about the past twelve hours, and all the feelings that had come rushing back. To tell the truth, they had never left, they had just been momentarily cast aside. As Deacon was about to knock on the door, it swung open and Stacey lurched onto him, in excitement and shock.

'What are you doing here?' she exclaimed with glee.

'Well, y'know, we had a rest day and…' he lied, but was interrupted before he could continue.

'And you missed me so much you couldn't even last a full day?' Stacey intercepted, planting his face with soft kisses.

Deacon gulped quietly, not wanting to disappoint her, 'You know it.' He said softly, pulling her in for an embrace. Stacey attached herself to him tightly, but deacon didn't notice her enthusiasm; for all he noticed that hugging Stacey, was nothing compared to hugging Rayna.

**- For Fictionally Speaking -**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi guys. basically i managed to retrieve the work i thought i had permanently lost which is good. so i have deleted the other segment from this episode and reuploaded it with this chapter, as i think it gives the story more pace. I would like to give a big thank you to Fictionally Speaking, who helped me write a lot of this chapter as i am suffering a family crisis right now. So THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH! this chapter and the next and the whole story is dedicated to you!xoxoxoxo**

**Hope you all enjoy it...**

Rayna looked coyly over at Deacon, who was sat opposite her with a boyish grin on his face, 'What?' she asked, confused to what he was finding so amusing.

Deacon sighed, he and Rayna had spent more time together this week than they had in the past several months and he had forgotten what it was like to be around her; her energy was infectious. 'I d'know, I'm just glad you're smiling again.' He said, fixated upon her.

Rayna gulped, the ever growing intimacy was beginning to space her out _He has a girlfriend Rayna,_ she thought to herself. 'Well, we did enough this week to keep my mind off…things.' She trailed on.

'That we did.' Deacon mused smiling to himself. The two of them had spent the week joking and reminiscing about the days when they were on tour together. When Lamar had practically flown out to venues to try drag Rayna home by the collar, or his staff had, he was never actually around to do so.

Nodding in agreement, Rayna felt a pair of eyes fixated upon the back of her head, 'Is she-' implying Juliet.

'Yes Ray, she's staring, staring bad.' Deacon cut her off, finishing her sentence, making Rayna's eyebrows rise in bemusement.

'I swear that girl…'

'I know, I know. It's not her im worried about.' Deacon muttered, glaring ferociously at Dante.

Looking out the window, Deacon inhaled as he saw the all too familiar landing strip of Nashville International Airport, they were home. Back to Stacey and back to reality. Sure he had missed her like hell, but being with Rayna this week had almost, just almost, made him forget about Stacey entirely.

A buzz from the intercom echoed throughout the cabin, 'This is your captain speaking; please ensure your seatbelts are on as we are now preparing for landing. Thank y'all for cooperating on this journey and I'll see you in a few days for the next leg.'

'Almost home,' Rayna smiled half-heartedly.

'Yeah,' Deacon sighed in agreement, smiling deeply at her.

A few minutes passed and the pair began to gather their belongings away, making sure they hadn't left anything behind, before settling into their seats as the plane touched down.

As soon as the door was opened, Juliet and Dante stormed off instantly, Emily following closely behind, carrying Juliet's extensive amount of hand luggage.

Rayna unbuckled and stood up, preparing to hoist her modest collection of hand luggage out of the hold, however, before she could do so, Deacon stopped her and lowered it down to her. Rayna cocked her head, she found herself smiling bashfully.

'What?' Deacon asked, smirking ever so slightly.

'Nothing, I, er just, thanks for getting that down for me.' Rayna stuttered, attempting to string a sentence along.

'S'alright' Deacon nodded, crinkling his nose in confusion.

The two made their way out the door of the plane into the crisp Nashville spring, Deacon noted fully that Juliet had stomped off, not even bothering to say goodbye to neither him nor Rayna. 'That was unbelievable, she didn't say a word to either of us the whole flight.' he said, shaking his head in both amusement and distaste. Once he had made it to the bottom of the flight of stairs, he outstretched his hand so that Rayna could make it down the stairs; without her majorly oversized tote dragging her down.

'Thanks,' Rayna beamed, 'It wasn't really that unbelievable.' She smirked.

'What do you mean?' he teased.

'You're just not used to it; she treats everyone else like that regularly.' Rayna chortled, loving the fact that it had taken Deacon a good eight months to realise Juliet's true colours.

Rayna looped her arm through Deacons; he smiled fondly at her as the pair made their way, sashaying down the runway, 'Well a'least it gave us time to catch up.'

'Yeah it did.' Rayna glowed, thinking back to the light hearted encounters the two of them had faced the past week. It was a relief that they were at a stage where they could socialise without all the tension, screaming and angst. 'You know it was fun this week' Rayna nodded, staring him in the eye.

'Yeah it was,' he smiled back down to her.

'Uh huh' she replied.

'Uh huh' he mimicked, teasing her.

'Stop,' she toyed, swatting him lightly with her free arm.

Deacon just laughed, keeping his gaze fixed on her face.

'Well I'll see you later,' she said awkwardly as she noticed Stacey in the distance.

'Yeh, er have a good one.' He smiled, unhooking his arm as he noticed a certain dark blonde approaching them. Stacey.

Rayna gulped ever so slightly, a twang of jealousy stabbing her heart as she watched Deacon run open-armed towards the petite blonde. 'Hey darlin'' she heard him say as she watched them embrace then kiss passionately. Even though Rayna liked the girl, it still made her feel easy to watch Deacon be with someone else.

'So.' Bucky prompted out of nowhere.

'Hey buck,' Rayna greeted, not turning to face her manager because she was too busy staring at Deacon and Stacey.

'The show isn't until the day after tomorrow which gives us a couple o'days off. Gives everyone a chance to breathe, I didn't know if you wanted me to book you up solid or completely clear your schedule.'

Rayna's attention focused back to Bucky, Deacon and Stacey had made their way to their car, so it was just her and Bucky walking the strip. 'Well actually, I was thinking we could call up Scarlett, y'know Deacon and I were talking about her, and I wanna spend time… y'know getting to know her…' she said awkwardly, it was quite amazing she barely knew the girl, when she had practically been her aunt for eleven years of her life, 'I mean, get to know her sound. Ooo you know what else Buck? Call up Liam, see if he's available tonight, to work on our album…we still haven't finished it, ill swing by the studio later if that works.'

'Agh!' Bucky cried in amusement, 'I love it when you talk like that,' he joked, pulling Rayna playfully into his side.

'I know you do babe,' she chortled, clambering into the black SUV waiting to take her home.

-RAYNA AND SCARLET-

Rayna looked up at the clock above her, it was two twenty-five, she had arranged to meet Scarlett at half past, but knowing from experience; everyone came five minutes early. As if on cue, the brown oak door swung open and Bucky walked through, followed by an extremely jittery Scarlett. Rayna stood up and smiled widely, taking in Scarlett's beauty _Boy did that family have good genes,_ she thought to herself.

'Rayna, Scarlett; Scarlett Rayna' Bucky gestured pointing from Rayna to Scarlett and visa versa.

'Pleasure to finally meet you again sweetheart,' Rayna beamed optimistically, leaning forward to shake Scarlett's hand.

'Oh my, Miss Jaymes, I just wanted to say how grateful I am for this. And how excited I am that we actually get to sit down together and discuss my future.' Scarlett rambled, clearly nervous.

'Of course, I believe in your potential completely,' she applauded, sitting down before gesturing Scarlett to follow suit, 'Oh and its Rayna by the way.' She added, trying to create a more relaxed atmosphere.

'Like I said, im just so, so excited to finally be here.'

'Well im excited too! Just to go through your music, and figure out what we're gonna use for your first single. Oh and I think we should talk about settin' up a tour.' Rayna watched as Scarlett's eyes grew wide in excitement and wonder; she recognised the same look from her own reflection, back when she was starting out.

'W.o.w.' Scarlett stammered in shock, before remembering what she r_eally_ wanted to sort out. Gunnar. 'Okay, well acutally there was one thing I was wanting to ask you, y'know if that's okay?'

'Yeah shoot sweetie, what's up?' Rayna inquired, not knowing what the pintesized blonde was going to come out with.

'I don't, I don't really know how to say this…I don't wanna seem outta' line or anythin' but er…you said at Uncle Deacon's party that there would be no Rayna Jaymes without Deacon Claybourne,' Scarlett began.

Rayna gulped, an all too familiar feeling crept up, it was an odd concoction of nostalgia, fondness and regret, however she couldn't dwell because Scarlett's voice had suddenly become grave, 'Well you see, there would be no me, without Gunnar. He only didn't turn up at the audition because there was a death in his family, and er, it wasn't the right time-'

'Oh my God,' Rayna exclaimed in sorrow, suddenly feeling awful, 'I tell you what, you bring Gunnar down here at some point next week, audition together and I'll see if I can adjust the contract okay?'

'Really?!' Scarlett yelped.

'O'Course, like I said a while back, don't be afraid to ask for anything; you're family.' Rayna smiled tenderly, standing up to show Scarlett out.

'Erm thank you so much Ms Jay- er I mean Rayna, Uncle Deacon sure does know you well,' she smiled, thinking about her Uncle's words of wisdom.

'Mmm…' Rayna mused, 'That he does, that he does.'

BACK STAGE OF THE NASHVILLE SHOW-

'Hey you know I much prefer that shirt on you than I do on myself.' Deacon smirked, leaning in to give Stacey a quick peck on the lips.

'I don't think so,' she blushed, 'Besides it's like ten sizes too big on me.'

Deacon laughed playfully, ' I don't know, y'know I think it looks good on you.'

'You think anything looks good on me' Stacey added mockingly.

'That's because it's true.' He said pulling her in for kiss.

Out of nowhere, a familiar yet distant voice approached them. 'Deacon!'

It was Liam.

'Great' Deacon thought sarcastically.

'Hey man good to see ya'' Liam greeted him with an outstretched arm.

Deacon didn't offer the same courtesy, but shook his hand never the less, 'Er hey man. What are you doing here? Didn't y'all get fired or something?' he asked in confusion to why this man was even in the same arena as him. A wave of uneasiness transpired through his body.

'Yeah I did, but I- er- we, made up in Atlanta,' Liam gulped apprehensively, before noticing the woman latched onto Deacons arm.

'Oh yeah that's right…' Deacon muttered under his breath.

Liam rocked back onto his heels, sensing the conversation just got awkward, 'How about you then? Still enjoying the bubblegum glitter joys of Miss Sparkly pants?' he joked.

Deacon chuckled honestly, 'You know Juliet, and every night's a joy with that ray of sunshine.' He said turning to Stacey, who was stood gawping in shock.

'Stace?' he quizzed, trying to catch her attention.

'Oh yeah sorry, I , erm im Stacey.' She greeted, all to eagerly stretching out her hand to shake Liam's.

Liam looked to Deacon for an explanation, 'Stacey's my girlfriend, Stacey, this is Liam, Liam-'

'McGuinness, yeah I know who he is.' She interjected.

Deacon stood wide eyed in confusion, 'What?' she asked, ' I just said I don't listen to country music.' She teased, elbowing Deacon playfully.

Liam laughed, and looked Stacey deeply in the eyes, 'Well im sure he doesn't deserve ya'' he added a kiss to her hand.

Deacon frowned, becoming ever more tempted to throw a punch at this guy, 'Nice.' His eyebrows shrugged. All of a sudden, Rayna appeared from behind Liam, playfully flicking his shoulder before realising who Liam was talking to.

'Hi.' Deacon smiled, eyes wide.

'Hey,' Rayna smiled softly to Deacon, before turning to look to Stacey, 'Hey Stacey' she nodded, before turning back to Liam, 'And hello to you Mr' she said prodding Liam in the chest.

'M'Lady,' Liam bowed mockingly.

Deacon couldn't help notice the fact that Rayna and Liam were being unusually over 'friendly' towards one another.

'How are ya'?' Rayna asked Stacey.

'Good, we're good,' she gestured to herself and Deacon.

Liam looked quizzically down at Rayna, who returned the look.

'So er anyways, we were just about to go see the stage weren't we Stace?' Deacon sighed, trying to get out of the ever growing awkward situation.

'Right. Yes. Er bye then!' Stacey turned to Rayna, waving flatly as she was dragged away by Deacon, who was pulling at his hair in agitation.

'That was weird.' Liam said when the couple were out of earshot.

'You have no idea,' said Rayna, whose gaze was fixed on the back of Deacon's disappearing head.

-ON STAGE-

Applause echoed throughout the arena as Rayna stood centre stage, microphone at the ready. There was only one more song left to go before the switch over and Rayna and Liam were killing it out there. 'Thank you Nashville, y'all have been an amazing audience tonight,' Rayna cheered, 'I wanna give a special thank you to my producer, special friend and lead guitarist; Mr Liam McGuiness' Rayna gestured the crowd over to Liam, Liam waved; sliding up to where Rayna was standing as cheering engulfed the stage. Rayna turned around, smiling coyly as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her meaningfully on the cheek.

Unbeknown to Rayna, Deacon was stood side of stage watching _everything._ Deacon grimaced, swallowing hard as his eyes caught Liam's fingers lingering on Rayna's lower back. He cleared his throat, shoving his hands into his back pockets when he realised that Stacey was looking at him curiously. He thought he'd succeed in hiding his irritated disposition but his face gave him away when someone in the front row screamed out 'Postcard From Mexico'.  
"_Really_ man? Out of all the songs to ask for, you wanna hear that one." Deacon thought, resenting the stranger's daring call.

Rayna scrunched up her nose, cocking her head as she looked out to where she thought she heard the request come from. "Ah, that's an old one…Liam doesn't know many of the old ones."  
Deacon smirked, overly happy that Rayna was shutting down the idea. Suddenly, the familiar strains of the intro broke through the pleading of the audience, catching both Deacon and Rayna off guard.  
Liam grinned, establishing a steady rhythm with each strum and stomp of his foot. "I know the cool ones."  
"I guess he does know the good stuff after all…Liam, I am impressed." Rayna laughed, waving her microphone in the air as she spun around to see her band joining the song.

"Is this…one of the songs you wrote together?" Stacey asked, clapping to the music.  
Tight lipped, Deacon forced a smile, gathering as much enthusiasm as he could find. "Yeah it is."  
Stacey nodded, turning her attention back to the stage as she screamed in excitement. Knowing that Rayna thought the world of Liam was already enough, but having a girlfriend who loved his music too just made him downright angry. Deacon loathed Liam, watching him on stage with Rayna sure as hell didn't help anything either. Forcing himself to focus on the song on not where Liam's eyes were looking, Deacon set his jaw and prepared himself for what was to come.

"One day." Liam began.  
"I saw him walking." Rayna sang, hand on hip as she cocked her head.  
"On the street."  
"Started talking."  
"Downtown." Liam smirked, looking at Rayna.  
"Now we're moving." She sang, walking towards him as she swayed her hips.  
"In the rain."  
"Now we're grooving."  
"She smiled."  
"Nothing hurting."  
"So fine." He sung lowly, looking her up and down. Rayna blushed, pursing her lips as she shook her head.  
"The beads are working."  
"I knew."  
Resting her forearm on his shoulder, Rayna smiled and looked out into the arena. "Honey honey."  
"She'd be mine." Liam's eyebrows rising suggestively  
"Easy money." She shrugged, playfully waving at him as she strutted away.

Deacon stood wide-eyed, fuming inside as he watched Liam chase Rayna across the stage, much to the delight of the audience. The sexual tension between the pair was blatantly obvious and Deacon cringed, twinges of jealously pulling at his insides. She was giggling as she sang, all her attention on Liam as their less than innocent singsong began to heat up the arena.

"_Y'all sure as hell have been doin' a lot more than just 'making up' in Atlanta_." Deacon muttered bitterly, thinking back to the conversation he and Stacey had shared with Liam only hours before. The next lyric caught Deacon's attention, drawing his eyes back to the stage.

"Bad girl." Liam hummed, turning the microphone to face Rayna. She raised an eyebrow as she sung the next line.

Deacon grimaced, clenching his fists in his pockets as he changed his position, averting his eyes from the stage. He wasn't sure how much longer he was prepared to stay around and watch this.  
"Hammer down." Rayna grinned, looking him up and down as she stepped closer.  
"Silk sheets." He smirked.  
"Leather bullets." She sang, smiling coyly as she walked backwards, the hum of the instrumental in the background. Liam followed her, his right hand leaving his guitar to stop Rayna walking away. Swiftly, he hooked his hand around her waist, pulling her into himself as he smiled. Rayna took the hint, stepping closer as she watched him effortlessly join the band on the riff. She swayed in time, grinning at Liam as they both ignored the wolf whistling and lofty comments that hit them from all directions.

"Aren't they amazing?!" Stacey squealed, leaning over to Deacon. He looked at her blankly and she frowned. "Hey, are you ok?"  
"I'm gonna get some water." Deacon murmured, squeezing her arm in an attempt to reassure her. "I'll be back in a bit."  
"Um, ok?" Stacey floundered, torn between staying or following after him. A new riff blared from the stage, drawing Stacey's eyes back to the performance as he hurried away.

Deacon stormed through a wall of VIPS, ignoring the friendly faces that greeted him as he passed by. He didn't care where he was headed; he just knew that there was no way he planned on coming back.

- Dressing room-

Slamming the counter, Deacon looked in the mirror and swore. What the hell was wrong with him? He thought he was past this, he thought they were finally through with the pulling of heartstrings and unspoken notions. But the more he thought about it, the harder it was to breathe. What a joke. Whether he wanted to believe it or not, deep down he knew that no amount of running, denying or excuses could conceal the fact that he wasn't as over his feelings for Rayna as he thought. He would have given anything not to feel this way, he wanted off of this merry-go-round.

"Um, hey." Stacey stammered, hesitating as she walked into the room. "What was that all about?"  
"What'd you mean?" Deacon asked.  
"You didn't come back."  
Deacon chuckled, scratching his face as he put his water bottle on the counter. "I'm not gonna watch her whole damn show….seen enough of them in my life."  
Stacey frowned, crossing her arms as she watched him angrily scuff his feet when he walked over to the opposite side of the room. She stared at him in the hope he'd acknowledge her frustration but he started shoving things in his bag.  
"You know when you came to see me…" She started hesitantly, exhaling when he finally looked at her. "Last week, were you actually here to see Rayna…and her Father in the hospital?"  
Deacon bit his tongue, unsure of what Stacey wanted to hear.  
"Don't look at me like that." She muttered, waving a hand in the air. "What?…You don't think I read the papers? Deacon, I'm not-"  
He shifted his position, wiping his forehead as he mentally constructed a sentence. "-Stace, I was here to see you…I just stopped by to see her on my way home."  
"Just stopped by." Stacey echoed his words, placing emphasise on every word.  
"I'm sorry, I should have told you that."  
Standing in silence, Stacey fought to voice the one question she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear the answer to. Looking at Deacon, she whispered evenly. "Do you still have feelings for her?"  
Deacon squeezed his eyes shut. Out of all the things to ask, you ask me that.  
"What are you askin' me right now?" Deacon countered, hoping that she'd drop this conversation.  
"Do you have feelings for Rayna?"  
"Stacey-"  
"-Simple question, simple answer."  
"Yeah." He breathed, swearing under his breath when he saw the hurt fill Stacey's eyes as she tried to steady herself. "I told you that Rayna and I…We've got this long history and I…its not something that just goes away right at the second you want it to…Stace I'm tryin'…"  
"Yeah, well I don't even know what you want me to do with that." She wavered, holding back tears.  
"I'm not askin' you to do anythin' with that…I'm askin' you to trust me."  
"I mean, do you…are you like wishing that she was here instead of me?" Stacey started, bitterness in her voice as she looked up at the ceiling out of fear she'd crack if she looked at him. "Is that it?"  
He shook his head, slowly walking over to her. "It's not that, it's not like that-"  
"-Then what's it like?"  
"It's not that, believe me when I say it's not…Stacey, I'm here with you because I wanna be with you. With you…I'm exactly where I wanna be." He soothed, desperation in his voice as she refused to look at him. "But you're askin' me to be honest with you…I'm not about to stand here and lie."  
Stacey let out a nervous laugh, looking at the ground.  
"So this is my fault?"  
"I didn't say that." He breathed, scratching his head. "I'm just bein' honest."  
"Oh, so now we're being honest with each other."  
"I'm just tryin' to make it work. I want this to work…isn't that enough for right n-?"  
"-I dunno Deacon." She mumbled, dodging his embrace as she stood and made her way to walk out of the room. "I dunno if that's enough."  
"Hey!" He whispered, following her out of the room. "Hey hey hey…Stacey-"  
"-What?" She demanded, colliding with him as she whirled around.  
"Can we talk about this?" He pleaded, agitated at the thought that the battle raging in his heart had gotten he and Stacey into this mess.  
"About what?!" She exclaimed, brushing hair out of her face. "You've made everything pretty clear to me."  
"I'm here. Right now." Deacon responded firmly, pointing at the ground as he emphasised each word. "Wanting to be with you-"  
"-I don't think you were ever here." Stacey mumbled, smiling weakly as someone waved at Deacon.  
"What? Why would you say that?" He asked defensively, reaching out to hold her.  
"No." She said shortly, holding her hands out in front of her. "Can you just stop…If you don't understand what I'm saying then-"  
"-Stacey-"  
"-I just need some time ok…?" She whispered, straightening her posture as Deacon argued her point.

Stacey looked up, noticing someone approaching them in her peripheral vision. Rayna waved meekly and smiled awkwardly, standing idly as Stacey rolled her eyes. She shook her head, letting out a low laugh. "Great…that's just perfect."

Deacon sought out what she was looking at, his breath hitching as his eyes fell on Rayna. Unintentionally, he let his gaze linger a little too long and Stacey swore.  
"Really?" She whispered, tilting her head to get his attention.  
Before Deacon had a chance to answer, Stacey stormed down the closest corridor. Infuriated, Deacon pressed his hands against his mouth and blew heavily in the hope to release his inner frustration. It didn't work and he laughed bitterly, putting his hands to his hips as he looked up at the ceiling. He had almost forgotten Rayna was standing a few feet away and did a double take when she smiled at him.

Rayna stood back and watched as Stacey stormed off in the opposite direction. They had obviously fought, most likely about her.

Deacon scoffed, placing his hands on his hips, and turned to face Rayna.

'Hey.' Rayna greeted him softly.

'Hi.' Deacon returned her greeting flatly, too much was going on in his head right now.

'Everything okay?' Rayna asked with concern, knowing full and well that everything was NOT okay.

Deacon sighed, he didn't want to burden Rayna with his problems. But that was just it; _she was his problem._

'Yeah.' He said as he began to walk away…but her turned around just as quickly, 'Actually er no, no its not.' he muttered as he slicked back his hair.

'C'mere,' Rayna gestured for him to come closer, behind a pillar so that they had some privacy in the whirlwind that was backstage. Deacon walked towards her, leaning ever so slightly on the pillar so that he didn't collapse from exhaustion. 'What's the matter?' Rayna asked, fifty percent of her was eager to know the answer, but the other fifty percent was pretty damn sure she already knew what it was. And it scared her. A LOT.

Deacon searched her eyes before he spoke; he needed to know where the two of them stood. He knew the root cause of all his problems; Rayna. She was the reason why he could never truly give himself to anyone else. She was the reason why he had reluctantly kept sober for the past 12 years, and she was the reason they were in this mess right now. It all came down to her. 'You.' He answered, an intense gaze piercing her blue eyes.

Rayna looked down sheepishly, she wasn't all that shocked but it came as a surprise to her that he would confess so easily. That there was no beating around the bush this time, she listened closely as he continued.

'You know….i've been tryin' forever to fight this thing between you and me, and just when I think I finally have…' he whispered, choking on his words, Rayna looked up fondly at him, urging him to continue,her heart skipped a little, needing to hear this now, however they were interrupted by an all too eager Liam approaching them.

'You ready?' Liam quipped, obviously not realising what he was so casually interrupting.

'For what?' Deacon asked, looking deeply into Rayna's eyes, afraid he already knew what was happening.

Rayna gulped and looked down guiltily, she had needed and wanted to hear that from deacon for so long now, for them to finally have _that _ conversation, but the timing was all wrong, she needed fun, she needed no strings , she couldn't risk having her heart broken; again. 'We're, erm, going to St Lucia,' she mumbled, trying to string a sentence together without breaking down,' so you, you should probably give Stacey a call and try work things out.'

Deacon nodded in understanding, so t_hat's _what happened in Atlanta, he thought to himself.

'I'll see you when I get back though?' Rayna asked, smiling grimly, squeezing his hand tightly as she walked away.

'Yeh, er,bye.' Deacon stood awkwardly as he watched the woman he loved leave without him as the wall met his fist in frustration.

- 1 HOUR LATER-

Rayna paced back and forth in her bedroom, running her packing list through her head one last time, making sure she hadn't forgotten to pack anything. Teddy had very kindly let her come home to retrieve her clothing and bid the girls goodbye before she left. She had agreed to meet Liam at the airport in half an hour, except there was an apprehension circling in her stomach. Was she really about to pack up and leave? She was doing what she always did; she was running away from her problems. Just like she had run away from Teddy in the spring, to go off on tour; Just like she had done in February; to run away from her life; Just like she was doing now, to run away from the root cause. From the reason that she didn't commit fully to Teddy, from the reason for her heart ache; she was running away from _him. _

Flopping backwards onto her bed in exhaustion, Rayna let out a loud sigh as she mused over what had led her to this point in her life. She thought back to all the lies she had told herself over and over again, what she had told him so that they could both move on;

'_I want you to be happy'_

_'I don't wanna hold you back'_

_'I feel like that's what I need to be saying, y'know, that I should be letting you move on with your life'_

_'I really like Stacey'_

'NO NO NO NO NO!' Rayna cried, yelling at the ceiling in frustration, and pulling at her hair with anger.

Rayna shot up off the bed, she kicked the suitcase, that was resting against the chaise longue, over as she thought about how ridiculous the idea of St Lucia was. She wasn't 20 anymore, she was at a point in her life where she had to make every last moment count, and running away with Liam would have done nothing for her except complicate the situation even more once she returned. She laughed out loud in realisation, that it had taken her so long to work out an answer that she knew had been staring her in the face for so long now. No complications. Pure. Honest. Love.

Picking up her phone and the suitcase, Rayna made her way out her room, through the winding corridors of her house and into her Range Rover, ready to start the next chapter of her life.


	19. Chapter 19

**The FINAL chapter for episode 18. im sorry it has been such a drama to upload..hope you enjoy this as i didnt change it too much because the final two scenes wer S. Anyways; here you go:**

Rayna pulled her over, breathing deeply with anticipation about what she was about to do. She quickly whipped out her phone and texted Liam;

_I'm sorry, can't come to St Lucia, I've made my decision._

She sighed instantly; her choice was set in stone. Liam replied instantaneously;

_You've made your bed, now you'll have to lie in it (pardon the pun). _

Rayna smiled slightly, glad that Liam wasn't being sour about the situation, he had to know it would happen sooner than later, didn't he? Rayna inhaled, stepped out her car and made her way up to Deacon's porch, her pulse rate increasing rapidly and a hot sweat coming over her. S_he was nervous._ She didn't know what to expect, for all she knew he could be in there making sweet love to Stacey, after all she had instructed him to work it out with her. Rayna mentally kicked herself for saying that, if she had been honest with him then and there none of this would be going on right now.

As Rayna approached his door, she contemplated about turning around and going home. Maybe this was a huge mistake. Maybe it wasn't. But knowing them, nothing would ever go smoothly; it never had. Rayna leaned forward and rapped the door three times with her knuckles, before taking a step back for precautionary measures.

'Just a minute!' Deacon called unenthusiastically from his living room. The last thing he wanted now was company, it was probably just Scarlet coming to talk relationship issues; well he had enough of them right now for the both of them. Deacon wiped his hands over his mouth before sighing, he needed to bottle all his emotion up just so he could get through one conversation. Unlocking the door, Deacon almost choked in shock when he saw the slender red head facing him, glassy eyed and exhausted.

Rayna.

'Hey.' Rayna forced a smile, she wasn't really sure where the two of them stood right now, and she was most positive she was the last person he would want to see right now.

'Hey?' Deacon greeted her in confusion, not really sure what Rayna was doing on his porch.

'Are you by yourself?' Rayna asked, searching the environment that loomed behind Deacon, making sure she wasn't interrupting what she dreaded had been going on behind closed doors.

'What's going on here Ray?' Deacon replied, she was meant to be on a plane right now, on her way to the Caribbean, not on his porch.

'Well I was at home…packing for St Lucia…and somethin' just didn't feel right…' she trailed on,' …and I know you're trying to move on with your life…and im trying to move on with my life..' she muttered, _for G-d sakes Rayna, quit beating around the bush and get on with it,_ her conscience pushed. '….But…' she gulped, staring at him deeply, ' I. Love. You. And that's just never not been true.'

There she had said it, laid the cards out on the table, what he did with that was up to him but she had finally done it, told him the truth for once in her life.

Deacon opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find the right words to express how he was feeling. A mixture of emotions ran over him, pain, strength, love; anger.

'Are you trying to kill me?' he snapped.

Rayna looked at him shell shocked in confusion.

'What, what are you doin'? two hours ago you were s'posed to be getting on a plane with Liam. ready to be whisked away, tellin' me to get back with Stacey. And now you're standing right here on my porch and you're telling me all this _now_? Deacon barked, he wasn't sure if he was yelling at her, or whether he was yelling to himself to try and wrap his head around the situation.

Rayna's eyebrows furrowed like they always did when she was hurt or confused,' I love you,' she repeated, why wasn't that enough? Isn't that what he had been waiting to hear from her? 'That is the truth. And you can do with that what you will. But I needed to let you know, and so I did.'

When he didn't reply, Rayna turned around, tears of longing forming in her eyes. 'It wasn't enough' she muttered under her breath, she had only made it half way across the porch when she got her answer.

'Hey.' Deacon called softly. That was it. The signal that they were okay, that everything was gonna be okay.

Immediately, Rayna impatiently made her way back into Deacon's arms, a strong shade of relief painted her face and for the first time in a long time, she felt light and free. The freeness she had expressed with Liam was like being chained up compared to this. There was an initial meeting of lips, crashing together with great force, the build-up of longing and desire crashing together in one fine moment. At once their mouths were moving in unison, as if they couldn't get enough of each other, as though to devour each other with their lips, mouths and tongues would be the only way to express how they were feeling. No amount of talking would ever come close to the passion they shared when they were intimate with one another; it was electric. Rayna collapsed further into Deacon, wrapping her arms round his neck in life support for she feared if she let go she would lose him. Deacon pushed Rayna back into the beam of his canopy, before turning her around and eagerly leading her back into the house. It stopped being a kiss after a while, and for Rayna and Deacon it blossomed into something new and complete, different from what either had ever experienced with one another.

Rayna smiled as she familiarised herself with the dimples in Deacons cheek, he groaned as he made himself apparent to Rayna. She brought her lips to his neck and left several light, simple, loving kisses trailed along his collar bone, 'I love you,' she whispered over and over again between kisses. Deacon nodded looking her in the eye, 'I know,' he smiled, before taking her in his arms and reigniting their kisses. Deacon pushed Rayna's jacket off her shoulders and they wasted no time discarding their shoes and belongings, they made their way back into the living room, dancing around obstacles until they had space for themselves. The two of them only broke for air, so they could make work of each others' clothing, Rayna glided her delicate hands over Deacon's muscular torso, smoothly undoing the buttons on his shirt, never ceasing to break eye contact, she brought his lips to hers and kissed him deeply. A burning of desire grew inside Deacon; he moved his hands from her waste to her chest, searching her eyes for permission to unbutton her blouse, her eyes widened in wonder and she nodded with contentment, blushing ever so slightly as she glanced down to her exposed cleavage. Deacon shook his head as if to tell her there was nothing to worry about, _she's just as beautiful now_, he thought to himself before he pushed his crotch against hers. He could feel Rayna smile into his mouth as she began to undo his belt buckle, tugging his jeans down so that he was just in his boxers and flannel. She took in his body as they made their way backwards, stumbling over coffee tables and magazines, until they eventually tumbled onto the old leather couch, Rayna tipped her head back and laughed with glee before their lips reconnected before they made up for all the lost time.


	20. Chapter 20

**Okay guys. Here is the full chapter for episode 19. This chapter includes the previous chapter, which i have no deleted. (does that make sense?) ANYWAYS. i only have six exams now so the next chapters should be uploaded soon enough. due to the hiatus i was thinking of stretching them out a bit, so that you have something to look forward to. Let me know what you think i should do regarding updates. p.s. thank you to everyone who is reviewing/following/favouriting the story. you guys are the motivation to get me writing, especially through exam periods. P.S. i have recently noticed that similar stories are cropping up and i am in no way shape or form using other author's ideas, im just retelling the episode so obviously there will be similar themes throughout the stories. anyways. HOPE YOU ENJOY XOXO**

Deacon's eyes opened gradually, rubbing the deep inset of his face to make sure his eyes, and his memories weren't deceiving him; _nope_, he smiled to himself; for entangled beneath him in a pile of duvet and throws, was a slim redhead looking up fondly at him. _Rayna_.

Rayna smoothly brought her lips to his, giving Deacon a tender, yet passionate 'Good Morning', before she spun herself over so her back was set into the deep alcove of his chest. 'Exhausted' didn't begin to describe how she felt, as she rolled herself into the familiar surroundings of Deacon's bed. Rayna smiled gleefully as she felt Deacon pull himself forward to be nearer to her, feeling the boyish smile emitted from behind her.

Deacon watched Rayna squirm gleefully as he left a trail of soft kisses along her shoulders and arm, before he wrapped himself around her protectively; it had taken him fourteen years to get her in this position and he wasn't about to let her disappear anytime soon. Rayna sunk into his chest, wrapping him around her, engulfing her completely.

Deacon smirked to himself and let out a sweet chuckle, 'You know one thing that hasn't changed at all?'

'What?' Rayna replied, rolling her eyes ever so slightly in amusement.

Deacon paused before he spoke, planting another soft kiss on Rayna's neck, trying to still come to terms with what had happened last night; and what was happening now. 'You still steal all the covers,' he laughed, tickling her and making her jump.

Rayna swatted him playfully, before laughing, 'I do not!' she protested, light-heartedly.

Deacon sighed in disagreement, 'Er yes you do,' he replied continuing to move his mouth along her back.

'Well you throw 'em off,' she giggled under his touch,' and I'm freezing!'

Tipping his head back in amusement, Deacon decided to take advantage of the situation, 'Well, we'd better warm you up!' he teased, leaning down so that their lips could meet.

Rayna slung her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her so that their bodies were pressed against one another, 'I do not ever wanna leave this bed.' She stated in between kisses.

Deacon exhaled deeply, kissing her before responding, 'Feels like you di'nt,' he told her, a mixture of sadness and relief hitting him all at once. Rayna looked deeply into his eyes, a small, comforting smile forming on her face. Edging closer towards him, so that they were only nanometres apart, her breath hitched as she stroked his face gently, before the resumed where they had left off.

An all too familiar siren rung from the bedside table, _'Not. Again.',_ Deacon prayed silently, continuing to kiss her like nothing was going on.

Groaning in exasperation, Rayna pulled herself away from her lover, 'That phone has been ringing off the hook all mornin'.' She sighed, trying to think back to the interruptions they had chosen to ignore whilst making love. Rayna turned, thinking it best to deal with the interruptions sooner rather than later, however she was beaten to her phone by one muscular arm.

'You know what? Nope!' Deacon asserted, pulling the phone out of Rayna's arm length. Rayna turned her head to face him, smiling at his impulsiveness. 'I've waited fourteen years for this, I want you all to myself.'

'Fine by me' Rayna nodded in agreement before leaning in to kiss him.

Deacon looked at the vibrating phone in his hand. It was Maddie. Deacon handed the phone to mound of limbs and red hair beneath him, 'Oh er its Maddie.'

'oh shoot' Rayna whispered, her heart pacing a little at the sound of her daughter's name. 'Hi sweetie,' Rayna chimed.

'Did you see? You're nominated, female vocalist of the year; it's all over facebook and twitter.' Maddie beamed.

Rayna's heart lept, she hadn't even thought about the CMAs since February, her personal life had taken priority over her career for so long now, she almost forgot what it was like to hear she had nominated. 'Awesome,' she smiled.

Maddie continued, Rayna tried to keep focused as Deacon traced her spine; making her tickle. 'Juliet was nominated for the same category.' Maddie boasted, infatuated with the idea of her mom and Juliet being in the same league.

'_Great' _Rayna thought to herself, however she didn't want to ruin the buzz of the news, 'Awesome' she replied falsely. 'Anyways honey, I will speak to you when you get home from school, have a nice day. I love you.' She said before her eldest child quickly hung up the phone.

Rayna flopped back into Deacon's arms, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Deacon wrapped his arm around Rayna, locking her onto his bare chest. 'What?' he puzzled over her enthusiasm.

'I just got nominated for a CMA…female vocalist of the year'

'Seriously?' Deacon choked on his own smile.

'Seriousy! Why are you surprised or somethin'?' she teased.

'Yeah kinda,' Deacon retorted, Rayna threw her head back in laughter and swatted him playfully.

'Well you made me forget all 'bout the CMA nominations,' she informed him cheekily.

'I did that?'

'Mmmmhm, you are good' she smirked.

'I'm something' else'

'Yeah you are,' she joked, but in reality she was being deadly serious. She never felt more alive than she did when she was with him.

Deacon pulled Rayna in to him, kissing her passionately before he broke the kiss so he could look at her. Deacon inhaled before opening his mouth to speak, 'You surprised the hell out of me last night' he beamed, an overwhelming feeling of contentment gushing over him. Whatever he had thought he felt when he was with Stacey was nothing compared to this.

Rayna deepened her gaze, peering into Deacon's pools of green, 'Surprised the hell outta' myself too,' she whispered before bringing herself towards him.

'Wanna get some breakfast?' Deacon asked in between kisses; trying to do the gentlemanly thing.

Rayna nodded, she didn't really know why she was nodding, she wasn't really hungry for anything; anything except for him.

'Maybe in a minute' Deacon smirked. Deacon smiled, a trickle of laughter leaving his lips as he slowly bent towards Rayna, his lips grazed over hers softly. Rayna's hands instinctively met the side of his cheek, intensifying the kiss until they were once again ceased by the ringing of her cell phone.

'Bucky.' Rayna read, declining the call.

'Bye Buck'.' Deacon smirked, resuming his position above Rayna.

After several minutes of stolen kisses and foreplay, Rayna heard her phone ring again, 'For G-ds sakes!' she cried.

'Ignore it.' Deacon told her.

Rayna glanced over to where her phone lay on the table, sighing with exasperation, she tumbled her way out from under Deacon so she could grab her phone.

Deacon retreated back to his side of the bed, sending Rayna a confused look.

'Marshall.' She mouthed, pointing to the receiver.

Deacon rolled his eyes but let her continue never the less.

'Rayna' Marshal chirped down the phone.

'Good morning,' Rayna greeted him with equal enthusiasm, glancing back over to Deacon and smiling.

'Congratulations Rayna!'

'I know its exciting!' Rayna beamed.

'Today is a special day!' Marshall told her.

'Yes!' Rayna nodded looking over to Deacon, 'Today is a very special day!' She chortled, knowing her boss wouldn't understand her ulterior motive.

'I just wanted to wish you congrats and inform you that we will be doing everything we can to help boost your chances of winning.'

'Thank you,' Rayna smiled.

Deacon was bored of hearing Rayna's phone conversations, it's not like she hasn't won a CMA before; she's got four perfectly polished trophies in her music room. Playfully, he made his way up her thigh, feeling her tense and squirm underneath him. He watched as her eyes flared up, she was so clearly trying to remain poised and professional. Deacon left a trail of kisses with his mouth; over her shoulders, down her spin to her weak point. Feeling herself come undone, Rayna elbowed Deacon to buzz off whilst she finished her conversation, 'Anyways Marshall, I 'got the girls right now,' she lied, 'so ill speak to you later at the studio. Okay…bye now…yes…you two…alright now, have a nice day…bye' she brought her phone down from her ear and hung up.

Deacon fell back into a laughing state when he saw Rayna's face, 'What?' he asked earnestly.

'You know what!' Rayna pursed her lips, trying not to smile.

'Maybe I do…maybe I don't…perhaps you'll have to remind me.' Deacon raised his eyebrows suggestively.

'Maybe…maybe…' Rayna mused,' But right now I am starving so I'd really appreciate breakfast.' She informed him, smiling and flopping back into bed dramatically.

Deacon raised an eyebrow as Rayna looked back at him confused.

'What?' she asked. 'You still know how to cook don't you?' she joked.

Deacon smirked and sat up, 'Only for you Ray, only for you.' He smiled as he stepped out of the bed they had inhabited for the past twelve hours.

Rayna watched as Deacon made his way to his bureau and began fishing out a pair of slacks, she couldn't believe how his physique had barely changed; he still strutted around oozing with confidence and sex appeal. But then again; he hadn't had two children.

'Why are you so quiet?' he asked feeling her stare and noticing the silence.

'I'm just admiring.' She teased.

'Admiring what may I ask?'

'I think you know what.'

Deacon laughed and blushed ever so slightly, 'Can't say I blame ya', I'd be doing the same if I were you.'

Rayna died over his tenacity, 'Some things never change do they?'

Deacon turned around and made his way over to her side of the bed, he perched on the edge and looked at her deeply, 'Well I d'know, some things do. You and me. Together. We don't change. But myself. I have. And you have. And, that can be good for us.' He smiled honestly at Rayna, who could feel her heart bursting through her chest cavity.

Rayna leaned in and kissed him, sensing that the tension between the two of them had once again heightened and she didn't want that today. She needed purity and love for a while, at least until she settled back into this routine; _his routine._

'So how about that breakfast?'

Rayna sipped the black coffee that was warming up every inch of her body. Needless to say; she needed it. Her head was pounding; she had underestimated how tired she was. Apparently her stamina is not what it used to be.

'Hey babe.' She heard her sister call from the porch.

'Hi' Rayna sort-of-called, not wanting to open her mouth to speak for the coffee would tumble all over her new sweater.

'I was just on my way downtown when I got your text to come over. What's up?' Tandy quizzed.

Rayna gestured for her sister to have a seat before she swallowed her coffee and spoke. 'Err…do you remember that thing we were talking about?'

Tandy tilted her head as if to say 'No'. 'What thing?'

Rayna laughed to herself for what was about to come out her mouth, 'The slutty thing?' she prompted, blushing ever so slightly.

Tandy sighed in realisation to what her sister was talking about. 'Oh THAT thing. With Liam?' her sister clapped in glee.

Rayna raised her eyebrows at her sisters enthusiasm, 'You have a lot of energy and I am VERY tired.'

'I bet you are.' Tandy chortled.

Rayna her gave her sister a look.

Tandy held her hands up in surrender, 'Ok. I'm sorry, how was it, with Liam?'

Rayna flinched, not really knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say. She wasn't even sure she wanted to tell anyone. The initial adrenaline hadn't worn off yet and telling her sister only doomed it. But she had to. This was her sister, and she needed advice on the "situation".

'Ahh yes…erm…not with Liam exactly…' Rayna blushed, crinkling her nose, hoping her sister would take the hint. She didn't.

'Not with Liam, with wh-' She started, eyes growing wide in curiosity and shock when she realised who her younger sister had spent the night with. 'NO!' Tandy exclaimed in astonishment.

Rayna nodded giggling. 'I er…went over to Deacons last night…'

'And?!' Tandy imploded, bursting with excitement and confusion.

'And?'

'How was it?'

Rayna gulped, trying to find the right adjectives to describe the magic, wonder and spontaneity of last night. 'It was, er…great. Really really great.' She smiled to herself like a teenager with a crush.

Tandy beamed, she hadn't seen her sister this happy for so long now; _I should've guessed, _she thought to herself. 'And?'

'And what?' Rayna asked, confused to why her sister kept prying.

'How is it today?'

'Great' Rayna sighed with contentment. 'Really really great.'

'Wow. Extensive vocabulary you got there.' Tandy said, irony pouring out her mouth.

Rayna rolled her eyes. 'Great. Wonderful. Magic…its just…just all so complicated…agh' Rayna rubbed her forehead dramatically.

Tandy sighed, they had been in this position many times now, and she was used to her sister's tendency to forget all the complications when it came to Deacon. 'Oh honey, it's always been complicated when it comes to you two.'

'I know I know…it's just that after all these years we can finally be together…and..and..'

'And?'

'Will you stop asking that!' Rayna snapped. 'Sorry…its just the stark reality is finally-'

Tandy cut her sister off before she could continue, 'Lets not go around making trouble for ourselves shall we. After all, it could just be a fling? You just got outta' fourteen year marriage, it was one night. It was a fling' Tandy reasoned.

Rayna shook her head at her sister's naivety, laughing at her ability to be so blissfully ignorant, 'You know it's never gonna be just one night with him. It's not gonna be just a fling with him. Deacon and I have a relationship. We have ALWAYS had a relationship.' Rayna protested.

'Alright. With the two of you it's always gonna be all or nothing.' Tandy mused, watching her sister smile painfully, 'And you just got out of a fourteen year marriage, are you sure that's what you want?'

'_Yes'_ Rayna thought to herself.

Tandy continued, taking Rayna by surprise, 'Are you sure that's what he wants?'

Rayna looked at her sister, had she not been hearing a word coming out of her own mouth. Tandy had said herself 'it's always gonna be all or nothing.' Why on earth would Deacon start something for the short term? He's had the past fourteen years to do that.

'Hey Cole,' Deacon smiled as he stroked Sue softly.

'Deacon? What's up, you said it was urgent.' Coleman asked his long-time friend.

'Something happened Cole, something amazing and I don't really know how to tell you.'

'Tell me what?' Coleman eased himself down so he was level with Deacon on his top step.

'Erm. Something happened…'

'With Stacey?' Cole asked, adjusting his head so he could look Deacon in the eyes.

'With Rayna.' Deacon corrected.

'Rayna? What did you- oh no Deacon, you didn't did you?' he didn't even need a response from Deacon, he looked like a infatuated teenager.

Deacon smiled to himself, but his smile faded when he saw the look of concern and annoyance on Coleman's face. 'What?'

'You got a rock solid thing goin' on with Stacey, why? Why? Why, would you blow that up over one night with Rayna?'

'Look- I didn't plan for this thing to happen, but it happened. I can't just ignore that.'

'Go back to Stacey, beg her forgiveness or whatever, just think before you do anything you're gonna regret…'

'Stacey's a great girl. She's good for me. But she ain't Rayna. You and I both know that.'

'Deacon listen to me,' Coles voice became graver, 'You know that Rayna is like family to me, but she has been nothing but trouble for you since day one.'

'Nope. You don't understand.'

'I don't understand.' Coleman mimicked, trying to get Deacon to see how possessive he sounded.

'Nope.'

'First drink always tastes good going down.'

'W.H.A.T.' Deacon snapped, he could feel his pulse rise radically and his hands began to twitch, 'Okay you need to stop talking about Rayna like she's some kinda addiction to me.'

Coleman sighed deeply, Deacon locked eyes on him, FUMING. 'So what about Audrey? Are you addicted to her? Or is she maybe the love of your life? Because that's what Rayna is to me. The love of my life.'

'Audrey has been messing with my mind all these years.'

'It's different this time!' Deacon protested.

'Oh yeah? So it's different this time? So what? You ask yourself this; are you willing to blow up your whole life without knowing for sure?' Coleman interrogated.

'_Of course it is worth it. This is Rayna.' _Deacon thought to himself, as he excused himself from the conversation and made his way back into the house.

Rayna's eyes glazed over as she dazedly listened to Bucky discuss celebration plans. 'Okay so the label got nine nominations altogether, so they're throwing y'all a party.' He informed her.

Rayna nodded approvingly, 'A party eh?'

'Yes Rayna; a party. Oh and it's on a boat'

'Wow they're really goin all out for this shindig aren't they?' she smirked.

'Uh-hu…oh by the way I couldn't get a hold of you this morning…but er Liam's assistant dropped over a package this morning…copy of your album and er a torn up plane ticket.' He stuttered, not wanting to cross the line into her personal life.

Rayna gulped, obviously Liam had not taken it as well as his texts had implied, rolling her eyes she responded to Bucky's concerning frown, 'Liam's a big boy, he knows we had an album to do, he knows how im struggling. I'll send over some Jack and he'll be over it.' She fluttered.

The pair continued to stroll through the corridor of the studio, an all too familiar tall, dark and handsome physique caught Rayna's attention from across the hallway; Deacon.

'So do you want me to swing by tonight and pick you up?' Bucky asked.

'Erm why don't you hold that thought I just need to ask er Deacon something…y'know about Juliet's set..' she lied.

'Oh er okay I'll see you in a little bit then.' Bucky puzzled, looking at her strangely.

'Yeah see you later babe' she shouted over her shoulder as she coolly made her way down the hall.

Deacon's eyes lit up as he saw Rayna approaching, he had been out of his band mates' conversation completely, unable to shake memories of last night and that morning from his mind. He watched as Rayna hovered behind Trip the drummer.

'Uch-chum' Rayna cleared her throat, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. The band bowed and ducked their heads jokily, both Rayna and Deacon laughed playfully. 'Why aren't you sweet gents?' she teased.

'Ms Jaymes,' Trip nodded, 'How may we be of service?' he beamed.

Rayna smirked at Trip, before turning her attention over to Deacon, 'Well, I was actually wondering if I could borrow Mr Claybourne for a couple minutes? Y'know if that's alright with y'all.' she asked bashfully fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Deacon smirked as he watched his band mates eat up Rayna's harmless flirtation. His eyes met Rayna's and noticed the familiar knowing look in her eyes. 'Would you excuse me boys, I got real work to do.' He dug at Juliet.

'Thank you,' Rayna mouthed before turning her body away from the men and quickly paced the rest of the corridor.

Deacon sprinted to catch up with the red head who had sashayed her way around the corner, 'Hey you wait up!'

Rayna looked over her shoulder cheekily and paused, 'Hey,' she smiled, lips lifting to meet his.

'Hey to you too,' Deacon smiled into her kiss, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the corridor and into a small practise room. 'We got about three minutes before everyone comes looking for you.'

'Well,' she sighed, 'knowing us, three minutes is plenty of time.' She smirked.

'Yup, Deacon raised his eyebrows suggestively, 'Better get to work then,' he grinned pulling Rayna closer towards him, 'Speakin' of work, busy day?' he joked.

'You've got no idea. Everyone's been talking about these nominations and all I can think about was last night.' She smiled.

'Me too,' he nodded. Ending their conversation with a kiss.

Rayna looped her arms around Deacons neck, pulling him into her and edging her up against the leather closet behind her. Their tongues battled for a few moments before Deacon broke the silence, 'So I was thinking,' he paused to kiss her, ' tomorrow night, after the show, you and me could go up to the cabin,' he kissed her.

'Ahh,' she smiled into his lips.

'Hide out,' he reasoned.

'Ahhh,' she smiled in agreement.

'Do a little canoeing,' he interjected randomly.

Rayna tipped her head back and giggled in amusement, 'So is that what the kids are calling "it" these days Mr Claybourne?' she teased before pulling his lips to hers once more.

'Okay so we probably won't canoe then,'

Rayna pulled herself away from Deacon's tender lips, looking him deeply in the eye, 'You know. That sounds SO good, but I got the girls this week, and we kinda have a celebration plan of our own…y'know; hot chocolate; smores, that sorta' thing-'

'S'alright,' Deacon intercepted, 'I love me some smores.' He smiled. ' I can do that.'

Rayna gulped, but still kept her smile on her face, she didn't want anything to ruin them, not yet; not while they were still in the honeymoon period. 'Okay, well…we'll see what happens.'

The smile fell instantly from Deacon's face and his eyebrows creased in confusion, 'ok.' he responded flatly.

Rayna's posture dropped as she searched his eyes for acceptance, he had to know they had to take it slow, the girls are her first priority. 'Well as you know, I'm a momma now, all that mundane stuff aint exactly what romance is made of.'

Deacon sighed and brought Rayna closer towards him, he loved her, and he loved the girls. There was nothing else too it. 'Ray,' he sighed in exasperation, 'You know I love your kids. And I love you. And all that mundane stuff…well…that's exactly what I've been waitin' for.'

Rayna stood motionless and wide eyed. Her head was trying to fathom exactly what Deacon had just told her. Her heart both leapt and ached, that was exactly what she had wanted to hear but she knew deep down that she couldn't just invite him on over and pretend they were all one big happy family. Not yet anyways. 'Well let's just take it slow okay?' she pleaded.

'If you're asking me if im looking for a way out. Im not.' he asserted her.

'Good.' Rayna replied honestly, 'Me either. But let's take it slow.'

Deacon didn't answer. But instead let out a deep sigh and gradually brought his lips to hers, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away. He knew it got to her, he could feel her shake beneath him. 'That slow enough for ya?' he pressed.

Rayna exhaled, composing herself before she spoke,'Maybe…though you might wanna try that again'

'Maybe I will, just not now because Bucky is gonna have the FBI trackin' you if you don't get back out there ASAP.' He joked.

Rayna groaned in frustration, 'Do I have to ?' she whined.

'Unfortunately darlin', but don't worry I shall be seeing you later,' he grinned.

'Fine.'

'Besides,' he reasoned, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.'

'Oh,' Rayna scoffed, ' You wish Mr.' she poked him before kissing him once more before composing her disheveled hair.

'You look gorgeous, now please can you get out and rehearse, sooner you're done. Sooner Juliet's done. Sooner we're done with her.' He joked, knowing Rayna would appreciate his digs at Juliet.

'You got that right!' she chortled, pushing him out of the door.

Reality hit them both as they were emerged into the hustle and bustle of the studio, 'I'll pick you up around eight tomorrow? That allright?' he asked.

'Actually babe, im going with Tandy, you know…its just because going together would mean red carpeting-it together. And I don't think i'm ready for the world to know, not just yet. Especially if the girls don't even know.' Rayna gazed up at Deacon, smiling hopefully before gazing down to their intertwined hands.

'Don't worry, I understand.' He said softly and honestly. Their relationship was going to be complicated this time around, to say the least.

'Alrighty, well I'll see you later handsome,' she smiled, lifting up on her tiptoes so she could kiss him gently, she didn't even bother to check for unwanted observers.

'You got it beautiful,' he replied tenderly, kissing the top of her head before making his way down the corridor to rehearsal.

'DON'T MISS ME TOO MUCH!' Rayna yelled after him.

Deacon didn't verbally reply but raised his arm to acknowledge Rayna's comment and at that moment, Rayna knew that they would be alright and everything was going to be okay; for now at least.

Rayna slumped back into her primping chair. She had resorted to the privacy of her green room so she had time to think. Teddy's warning from earlier that evening had been continuously replaying in her mind. _There is no way you can be a relationship with him without it coming out. _Rayna sighed, frustrated that Teddy was once again invading her relationship with Deacon…'Stop it Rayna,' she snapped. She knew deep down Teddy was not the problem. She was. She was letting her own guilt and insecurities ruin the first good thing that had happened to her in a long while. There was no issue in her relationship with Deacon. He suspected nothing, the only reason he would ever suspect anything was if someone was to say something. But they wouldn't. They couldn't do that to her; they couldn't do that to Maddie. She needed to suck it up. She loved him. She loved Maddie. She wasn't about to ruin their lives for the sake of her guilty conscience.

Rayna stood up, she fluffed her hair and glanced over her make up. _Perfect _muttered. No one would suspect the turmoil she was enduring. Checking the dazzling Cartier watch on her wrist, Rayna read that it was eleven thirty. Juliet would be going on in ten minutes, which means she would be on in half an hour, and she could hear the party upstairs in full swing, 'I should probably get back to that,' she whispered, making her way out the door.

Looking up, Rayna saw Deacon making his way down the stair case, his appearance was constantly taking her breath away. 'Hey,' she greeted him sweetly.

'You look kinda gorgeous,' He grinned at her.

'_Only _kinda gorgeous?' she teased.

'Completely and utterly gorgeous!' he corrected himself.

'Well then I guess you look kinda handsome,' she smiled.

'_Only_ kinda handsome?' he mimicked her.

Rayna rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head, 'Completely and utterly handsome.' She laughed.

'Haven't seen much of you tonight.' He stated softly.

'I know.' Rayna shrugged.

'C'mere,' Deacon leant down and caressed Rayna's face, pulling her lips towards his. The pair kissed passionately for a short while, before Rayna pulled away, searching the space around them. 'What's wrong?' he asked in confusion.

'Nothing, nothing's wrong.' She lied.

'Yes there is.' He said flatly, not buying her reply for one second.

'I just…I just…y'know with all the paparazzi around, I just wanna keep a low profile…that's all.' She lied once again.

'Is that all?' Deacon searched her eyes for an answer.

'Uh-hu,' Rayna shrugged half heartedly.

'Something's wrong, what's wrong, talk to me,' he pressed, she couldn't be doing this to him. not again. Not yet.

Rayna shook her head and smirked in irritation, 'You know what babe. I cant, I just cant.'

'Don't do this again. Don't. Do. This. Again.' He pleaded, not letting go of the subject.

'Don't do what again?' Rayna quizzed, not understanding what he meant.

'You know what I mean. You're pulling away. You did it in Atlanta and you're doing it again now.' He explained, his pulse rate increasing by the minute.

Rayna looked down at their hands, grasped firmly and familiarly within one another. She wasn't pulling away, she wanted to be as close to him as humanly possible, but she couldn't say anything. This was bigger than just the two of them. 'Babe I just ca-'

'There y'all are!' echoed from behind them. Rayna released Deacons hands and dropped her arms by her side. It was Juliet.

'Great,' Deacon and Rayna thought in unison.

Deacon spun around to confront Juliet, 'Just a sec okay,' he spun back to face Rayna instantaneously, 'You're not talking to me,' he sighed, arms flinging around him in frustration.

'I'm sorry, I got a little something called a show to do,' Juliet whinged like a five year old. It was obvious to both Deacon and Rayna that she had had too many Mojitos.

Deacon's jaw locked,' I know what we're doing alright. Just pull yourself together and ill be out in a minute.' He yelled at Juliet, who was stood, hands on hips and a fixed pout. Turning back to Rayna, his expression softened completely, 'Rayna tell me what's wrong, _please._' He begged.

Rayna could feel her eyes welling up, there was nothing she hated more than dishonesty, especially when it came to Deacon. 'I cant babe, I just cant.'

From behind them Juliet's patience level was erupting, 'EXCUSE ME BUT UNTIL THE END OF THIS TOUR YOU STILL WORK FOR ME. NOW GET YOUR BUTT UPSTAIRS AND ONSTAGE RIGHT NOW!'

Deacon ignored Juliet. His lips were pursed and his eyes were glaring at Rayna. To say that he was pissed was an understatement; and the petulant blonde behind him was not doing anything to help the situation. Deacon stared at Rayna, his last ditch attempt to get her to open up to him. It didn't work. Deacon spun around and stormed down the corridor, 'GET OUT OF MY WAY AND DO YOUR OWN DAMN SHOW!' He thundered.

Juliet stood taken aback for a brief second, 'WHAT YOU QUIT?!' She demanded.

Deacon didn't look back, that girl was not worth his attention, 'YES!' he roared as he made his way off the ship.

'WELL I QUIT YOU. I AM SO TIRED OF YOU!' Juliet screeched, her eyes became wet and sore, shocked that he, like everyone else had abandoned her.

At the far end of the corridor, Rayna stood frozen in shock and guilt. _This is all my fault_, she thought to herself. She had ruin his career and their relationship. All in the space of five minutes. Rayna sighed and ran her hands through her hair, not noticing the pintsized blonde stumbling closer to her.

'Thanks.' Juliet snapped sarcastically.

'Girl get a hold of yourself,' Rayna shot back, giving Juliet a one-over, she was a mess, an absolute mess.

'Whatever, I've got a show to do' Juliet retorted, eyes rolling back in her skull.

Rayna watched Juliet drunkenly strut around it on stage, she had to hand it to the girl; she sure was entertaining. Rayna jumped as she felt a hand stroke her back.

'Hey,' her sister smiled softly.

'Oh hi,' Rayna replied flatly, needless to say she was not in the mood for company.

Tandy looked from Rayna to the stage, and back to Rayna again, clearly puzzled by the situation, 'What happened to Deacon?' she asked.

Rayna sighed, she did not need this on her plate right before a performance. 'Well,' she shrugged, 'we talked.'

Tandy tilted her head, searching her sister's expression for further explanation.

'Not good, not good.' Rayna replied, not needing to say anymore because Tandy knew well by now what "not good" meant when It came to Deacon.

'Well, just give him some time, you know, it was never gonna be easy. But don't let it stop you from living your life. If he loves you, he won't need an explanation.'

Rayna nodded, edging herself back against the wall so that Juliet had room to get past, before receiving the microphone and making her way on stage.

'THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH!' Rayna cheered to the gleeful crowd in front of her. ' I would just like to thank Edgehill, for throwing this party and for not giving up on me or any other artist when times got tough. Oh and I would like to thank the Country Music Association for the nomination. I am truly grateful.' She beamed, wanting to end the night on a high note. 'Alright y'all, enjoy the rest of your night. Have a good one.' She nodded to the crowd before making her way down the steps down stage.

'Miss Jaymes- er Rayna!' Scarlet exclaimed.

'Hi sweetie,' Rayna glowed, extending her arms and pulling Scarlet in for a hug.

'You were great. Thank you so much for the invite.' Scarlet applauded.

'You're welcome honey, who knows this might be you next year!' Rayna winked, but in all honesty she knew Scarlet had the potential.

'Well I don't know about that…'she mused.

'Sure you do,' quipped a muscular figure from behind her, nudging Scarlet playfully.

'Oh you must be Gunnar, pleasure to meet ya,' Rayna extended a friendly arm towards the gentleman.

'Eww gross, no, this is Will, Will Lexington, he's my neighbour…er Gunnar couldn't make it tonight.' Scarlet explained disappointedly.

'Owhh…' Rayna sighed, but smiled and greeted the man nevertheless.

'Pleasure to be of your acquaintance ma'am.' Will bowed, taking off his Stetson.

'Nice to meet you,' Rayna nodded, searching the room for any sight of Deacon.

'Actually, if it isn't too much trouble. Ive got my demo on me and I think you would love my sound its kinda a traditional, folk-' Will quipped, however Rayna interrupted him.

'Well…er…sure thing… if Scarlet finds Bucky im sure he can sort you out with that…' Rayna searched the room, becoming more jittery by the moment, 'Scarlett, sweetheart, have you seen your uncle about anywhere I just need to ask him something?'

'No erm im sorry, you should probably check outside though, you know him. He hates parties.'

Rayna nodded, 'And with good reason,' she joked, trying to mask her concern. 'Alright well I will catch up with y'all later. Nice to see you both.'

'Bye,' Will nodded.

'I cannot believe you just did that,' Scarlet exclaimed as she watched Rayna disappear through the crowds.

'What?' Will asked earnestly.

'You know what.' Scarlet replied, swatting her friend round the head.

Rayna wandered through the bustling crowd, looking for her sister. 'Hey,' she smiled, drawing Tandy from what looked like a highly boring conversation regarding Teddy's mayoral business.

'Thank you for getting me out of that,' Tandy replied out of earshot.

Rayna laughed properly for the first time that evening, 'Oh you're welcome honey. I was just coming to see if you wanna get outta here?'

'No Deacon?' Tandy rephrased Rayna's question.

'No Deacon.' Rayna replied flatly, as she and her sister made their way off the ship and down the red carpet.

'Don't worry your pretty head about it,' Tandy patronized, 'he will come around, you'll see.'

Rayna nodded uncertainly, before turning to the valet, 'Could you get my car please?' she asked politely.

'I've already sent for it Ms Jaymes. Have a nice night.' The valet replied.

'Why thank you.' Rayna nodded.

'Rayna, you sure you're alright?' Tandy apprehended.

'I don't know…he can read me like a book. It's just gonna be real hard…I don't know what to do.' Rayna sighed, they were whispering in case of any unwanted eavesdroppers.

'Well…' Tandy paused to think before she spoke, she knew if she said anything out of line her sister would lose it completely. Especially when it came to Deacon. 'You're gonna keep on doing what you've been doing for years. You're not gonna say anything.' She reiterated, making sure Rayna got the message crystal clear.

'Erm Ms Jaymes, this is you.' The Valet signalled towards the Lincoln town car that had pulled up in front of them.

'Thanks,' Rayna replied handing the valet a generous tip.

'After you,' Rayna gestured from her sister to the open door.

Tandy glanced over her shoulder at Bucky, who was pretending not to be watching the two sisters. 'Actually, I have a ride.' She informed Rayna cheekily.

Rayna followed her sister's gaze until she found her manager smiling bashfully back at her. 'Ohhhhh,' Rayna sighed in realisation, 'You two have a nice night then. LOOK AFTER HER BUCK' She called to her blushing manager.

'Whatever, will you just get in there,' her sister cavorted, pushing Rayna into the car.

Rayna sighed as she collapsed against the plush seats. Words didn't begin to describe how thankful she was to have privacy for the first time that evening. Rayna let out a long sigh as the door opposite her was pulled open.

'Excuse m- Oh Hey. What are you doing?' She interrogated once she realised who had joined her.

'GO' Deacon asserted the driver impatiently.

'What are you doin'?' Rayna repeated, placing her hand upon his to urge him to continue.

'I don't know what you're hiding, or what it is you're afraid to tell me, but… it doesn't matter. It just doesn't. You and me got so much damn water under our bridge. Sometimes it's like we're drowning in it. Well, to hell with all that.' He confessed.

Rayna sat gawping for several seconds before she composed herself, never in a million years had she expected him to let go like that, especially not with her. 'What matters is you and me. Right here. Right now.' He continued, causing Rayna's composure to fly out the window. The waterworks started almost instantly, hot tears of relief and guilt and love toppling from her deep pools of blue.

Deacon's heart broke slightly, even though he was the one who was confused and insecure, it wrecked him to see her in pain, watching her suffer was the worst feeling in the world. 'Hey,' he pleaded, inching towards her, 'listen to me. You can tell me everythin', or you can tell me nothing at all. But you can't tell me you don't love me. Because that's the one thing ill never believe.'

Rayna let out a long sigh, turned her face towards him so that they could reconnect, 'I love you.' She whispered. 'I love you so much,' she told him, holding back the tears so she could put across how much he meant to her. After her children, _he_, _them, this_, was the most important thing in her life.

Deacon nodded in understanding, never ceasing to remove his eyes from hers. They could both feel the tension burning between them. They were in a position they had never been in before with one another; total understanding. 'I love you too.' He replied simply as he had nothing else to say.

Rayna inhaled shakily, it was like all the oxygen had been removed from the vicinity, pulling him towards her, Rayna kissed him long and hard. She felt the world disappear around her and for a few moments it felt as if no one else mattered. It was as if no one else existed, it was like there was just the two of them alone in the universe. Clinging on to every sheer second of their turbulent yet intricate romance, however they were no longer fearful that one wrong step would overpower the two of them and bring them crashing back into reality.

For the first time in thirteen and a half years Rayna and Deacon could finally relax and just be "Rayna and Deacon", with no overbearing parents, addictions or partners.

Deacon pulled away first, causing him to receive great looks of confusion and annoyance from the red head opposite him. 'What?' he asked boyishly.

'You pulled away?' she spat, folding her arms around her in anger.

'Ray, I only pulled away because if we had kept on going on like that we would have been doing a lot more than just kissing.' He chuckled.

'So?' her eyes lit up.

'So,' he continued, trying to decrease the tension and lighten the mood, 'I don't think you're paying the driver enough for that.' He shot a warning look to the driver not to say anything.

Rayna giggled like a teenager, 'Stop it,' she teased swatting him.

'I've missed that.' Deacon confessed.

'Missed what?' Rayna puzzled.

'You. That smile, it's been too long.' He answered her honestly.

'I'm pretty sure you saw it yesterday morning.' She prodded him.

'Like I said; too long.'

Rayna blushed and looked down at their hands, ' I just…er…I just wanted to tell you…that what you said just then, before we got carried away, is pretty much what ive been wanting to hear from you for the past thirteen years.'

Deacon nodded, he knew that. 'Good.' He leaned in and kissed her softly.

The chauffer coughed from the front seat, 'Mr Claybourne, we have arrived.' He lifted his cap.

'Why thank you sir!' he said, opening his door to get out the car, however someone was holding a firm grip on his arm. 'Yes?' he quizzed, eyebrows raised with a smile plastered on his face.

'I want to come home with you.' Rayna told him candidly.

'What about the girls?' Deacon asked, unsure to what had gotten into Rayna; nothing came before the girls.

'Teddy took Maddie to the father daughter dance at her school, so I said he could have her tonight. Daphne is at her grandmother's. And I want to be with you.' Rayna replied.

'Oh, well what are we waiting for?' Deacon smiled as he closed his door and made his way to Rayna's side. 'M'lady,' Deacon grinned as he bowed and held out a hand for Rayna.

Rayna threw her head back in hysteria at his behaviour, 'Why thank you kind sir, but to what do I owe this pleasure?' she asked coyly.

'You're about to find out…' he chortled, picking Rayna up by her waist and fireman-lifting her up his drive. 'Thank you, but she's coming with me.' He signalled to the driver to leave them.

'DEACON PUT ME DOWN!' Rayna giggled as she thwacked Deacon's back.

'There is no way you are getting down until we are safely in my bedroom, d'ya hear me?' he informed her. ' I do not want the same mess we had the other night in my living room. I do NOT want to have to clean up that again Ray.'

'Alright, alright.' Rayna compromised after finding out what he had in store for them. She laughed as she watch Deacon fumble around for his key, 'Not so smart now Mr,' she announced, dangling and twirling his key from her index finger.

'Gimmee that,' he said, awkwardly trying to get it from Rayna's poised finger. After a minute or so of severe frustration, Deacon managed to get the door unlocked, he cautiously lowered himself so he could get Rayna through the doorframe, before swiftly kicking the door closed behind them.

'Someone's an eager beaver.' Rayna smirked.

'You've got no idea,' Deacon reciprocated her energy. Their night had started off so turbulent yet now everything was at peace with itself.

- TWO HOURS LATER-

'Did I ever tell you how good that shirt looks on you?' Deacon grinned.

'Maybe, but that doesn't mean to say you need to stop telling me.' Rayna beamed from the other side of the kitchen.

'Uh-hu. Coffee?' Deacon asked, holding up a mug.

'I cannot believe you still have that mug, It must be a good twenty years old.'

'Twenty-two actually; Louisiana 1991 If I remember correctly.' He corrected.

Rayna strolled towards deacon, wrapped her arms around his waist as she planted a trail of soft kisses down his back. 'You know what I'd much rather do than drink coffee with you?' she asked sweetly.

'Oh I can think of a number of things…' deacon trailed off, before being swatted back into reality.

'Oh I bet you can, but don't be such a boy. I meant I would much rather do _this!' _she proclaimed, revealing his Gibson from behind her back.

'What…where…I swear that was in the bedroom.' He mused.

'It was, I swiped it when you were retrieving your boxers from the living room.'

'Oh,' he smiled at the memory of their most recent love making.

'Oh,' she nodded, her expression mimicking his.

'Well im sure something can be arranged,' he said, swiping her and the guitar up and carrying her slender frame to the couch.

'You know I really wish you'd quit carrying me up, my bones aren't as nimble as they used to be.'

'Will you just shush you're gorgeous and you know it,' he smirked dropping her and the guitar onto the couch.

'Ouch.'

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah fine I just-'

'I was talking to the guitar actually,' Deacon smirked, waiting for her response.

'No you were not.' she laughed bringing him down on top of her.

'This is not how you play songs Rayna.' He reminded her.

'You're right, you're right…' she mused as she removed herself from under him.

'Hey.' He clutched onto her to stop her from moving, 'I'm not saying I don't like it.'

'No no, no no. You wanna play, let's play.' She fluttered her eyelashes innocently towards him.

'Alright, alright.' He held his hands up in surrender before reaching over her to pick up the Gibson.

Rayna closed her eyes as the first chord of her favourite melody surrounded her, she sighed lightly, revelling in the moment.

I'm quitting the bottle at the end of the day  
Wanna be there for heaven when it opens the gate  
I'll give up the lying if you're gonna stay  
I'll be quitting at the end of the day

Don't say it's over  
Ima fix what I've done  
gonna lay down beside you wanna lay down my gun  
the struggle ain't over but I hope you will stay  
cause I'll be quitting at the end of the day

I'm done with the cheating that drove you away  
But you'll give me forgiveness if I promise to change  
I told you It's over, so what else can I say?  
I'll be quitting at the end of the day

Don't say it's over  
Ima fix what I've done  
gonna lay down beside you wanna lay down my gun  
the struggle ain't over but I hope you will stay  
cause I'll be quitting at the end of the day

hold on a couple more hours  
I'll be home ready to lay in your arms  
don't change your mind

Don't say it's over  
Ima fix what I've done  
gonna lay down beside you wanna lay down my gun  
the struggle ain't over but I hope you will stay  
cause I'll be quitting at the end of the day

Rayna gulped, she had forgotten what it was like to sing that song; with him. she remembered when they had written it; via letters, the first time he had gone into rehab, she had sent him the chorus and he had written her a verse for each week he was in there. It was his promise of sobriety. His promise to _her. _

Deacon kept his gaze fixated upon her, he hadn't removed it through the duration of the song. He wanted to kiss her, he needed to kiss her. But he didn't at first, he searched her eyes for permission, just in case she needed time to heal the wounds that song opened. Rayna smiled brightly and brought her lips to his.

'I still love that song so much,' she whispered.

Deacon didn't reply, but took her hand in his. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, basking in the emotions of the moment and just enjoying one anothers' company. 'God this feels so right.'

Rayna nodded in agreement, her head resting gently on his shoulder.

'I just wish we could have done it sooner.' Deacon sighed. 'Might've had a family of our own by now.' He revealed sadly.

Rayna felt her pulse increase rapidly; her ever growing guilty conscience had returned, no matter how she distracted herself, nothing would get rid of the truth. Deacon pressed his lips against her forehead. 'Wanna go to bed?' he asked.

Rayna couldn't find the words to speak, but nodded and followed her love into the moonlit bedroom, not knowing what day would bring.


	21. Chapter 21

**Part 1. Enjoy xxxx**

Rayna sighed heavily as she opened the door to her home, today would be her first time home since the CMA party. Searching the room she found the vanilla iced cake the girls had made for her, a warm comforting sensation burned within her, she missed them more now than ever and the idea of having to go back on tour and leaving everyone she loved; Maddie, Daphne and Deacon, depressed her monumentally. Rayna dropped her bags on the floor by the door, sticking her hands casually in her back pockets she made her way through the deserted kitchen to the cake. She stuck her index finger out and delicately swirled it in the icing before bringing it to her mouth to taste, 't_he girls are gonna kill me for that'_ she laughed to herself about her daughters' tendencies to over react.

Making her way into the living room, Rayna coolly kicked off her stilettos before slumping onto the plush upholstery. She sighed as she laid there on her back, staring into the vast space above her. Never in her fourteen years of living in this house, had it ever been this quiet even when it was just her and Teddy, before Maddie was born, there was always something going on. They frequently had friends over, well more acquaintances than friends, from the country club. Rayna would smile, try to keep involved in whatever trivial conversation they were involved in as she handed out lemonade and hors d'oeuvres. But now. Now it was deathly silent. No manic children. No husband. No Deacon. Oh Deacon. It had only been forty minutes since she had left his, but she missed him already. The desperation and sense of longing she felt now must only be a fraction of what he had to endure for thirteen years. She could feel the familiar sense of guilt creeping up on her '_Stop it Rayna!'_ she told herself, she wouldn't let the past dictate the present. She needed to focus on what she has now rather than what she didn't have then; Deacon. Rayna fidgeted on the settee, inching her body up slightly so that she could reach the phone in her back pocket and into her view. She scrolled through her contacts swiftly until she found his name, selecting him she brought up a message.

_I Miss You._

She entered softly, she didn't care if it looked desperate, and every inch of her being wanted to be surrounded by him, being back here; back in this house, made her long for him even more. Having him back in her life only made her realise how empty she was without him. The love she held for Teddy at the best of times was nothing like this, even when she and Deacon were apart there was a desire gluing them solidly together. Rayna hit send on her iPhone screen; she tossed the phone onto a neighbouring armchair before tossing her tresses behind her and making up for all the lost sleep from the previous night.

Deacon kicked off his couch, staring widely at the mess that was his house. Papers were everywhere; cutlery, plates and mugs were scattered across various shelves and mantle pieces and a vast amount of clothing was clumsily discarded throughout his house. 'Rayna,' he smirked to himself. After twenty years she was still as messy as the day he had met her, his environment looked like the aftermath of a frat- party, minus the alcohol. After their blow up at the CMA party, they had spent the night writing, making love, and then writing again, they only got an hour of sleep between the two of them. When one fell asleep, the other would wake up in desperate need of satisfaction. Deacon picked up a bag and started compiling a collection of Rayna's belongings, she had gone home in nothing but a long shirt and stilettos, and he figured it was best he return all her sparkles. Deacon carefully placed the box on a counter as he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket, 'Rayna' it read. Deacon smiled as he read her message, however he didn't respond, he would rather converse with her than her iPhone.

'Hey,' he heard Rayna smile down the phone.

'Hey to you too,' he smiled back.

'I take it you got my message?' she asked coyly.

'I did, I did. Obviously, I miss you too. BUT. It has only been a couple of hours Ray, if we can't make it this long without communicating, what hope in hell do we have when you go back out on tour?' he teased.

'Actually,' Rayna interrupted assertively, 'I wanna talk to you about that,' she continued, 'how would you; feel about comin' out with me? You won't be in the band but I d'know…I just think it would be nice for us to spend some time together, outside Nashville that is.'

Deacon smiled, he hadn't been out on tour with Rayna for three years, and they hadn't been on tour as a couple for a good fifteen. 'Erm, well my whole schedule cleared up a lil' bit…but ill have to check my calendar…y'know I got a lot going on in the unemployed world that is my life…but I think I could make that work.' He joked, hearing her laughing from her end of the line.

'Yeah?' Rayna asked gleefully

'Yeah' he mimicked. 'Oh and Ray-'

'Yeah?'

'I've got a delightful pair of lace underwear in my hands and they certainly aren't mine so I-'

'Deacon Claybourne! Do you have a _lady friend_ with you?' she falsely exclaimed, tipping her head back in laughter.

'Err…..no…but if I did, would you be jealous?' he teased.

'Well your ego doesn't need increasing after last night so I will see you tonight for take-off.'

'Take-off of clothing?'

'Keep on dreamin' Romeo,' she quipped.

'Alright well I'll come by the house at six with all your stuff and we can ride to the airport together if that works for ya?'

'Yup…' she mused for a few seconds, the hushed breathing on the other side of the phone was surprisingly comforting to her, 'You know what?'

'what?'

'I love you!' she proclaimed, beaming down the phone.

'That's good, because I love you too.'

- Backstage –

'Y'know, when you invited me on tour with you, I didn't think we'd be sneaking around…I mean, we aren't teenagers anymore Ray,' he smiled into her exuberant kiss.

'I know, I know, but I don't want the world finding out before the girls do, they're my priority right now.' She grinned, before she hopped down from toes where she was firmly placed. Rayna coolly walked over to her dressing room door and closed it forcefully.

'Finally some privacy in the circus,' she exhaled, clasping her palms together in a nun like manor.

Deacon laughed as he slumped back into the plus loveseat that dominated the dressing room. His feet were casually propped up on the glass coffee table and one arm was slumped loosely over the backrest. Rayna made her way over to him and nestled in the alcove of his form, It was a routine they had mastered so perfectly, even though it had been almost fifteen years since they had been able to lounge in such manner.

'So,' Deacon sighed softly as he pulled Rayna further into his embrace, 'my work schedule just cleared up a whole lot and not to seem rude bu-'

'You wanna play with me?' Rayna beamed, her eyes lighting up in glee.

'Well, not to be outta'line or anthin' but er, I really don't think your replacements have been up to par. You know, it's not that they're not good, but I know a real great guy willing to step in' he smiled cheekily, watching her nose crinkle in amusement.

'Oh you do do you?' she smirked leaning in to peck him gently.

'Uh-huh,' he smiled into her.

'Well I'll have to see what I can do, no promises though, I mean, I cannot tell you how many times I have had to wait for fricken guitar players…'she teased.

'Oh im sure I can imagine, but y'know this guy is pretty solid, broad, about 6ft3, dark, brooding. Got that whole rock-star package nailed to a Tee.'

'Sounds familiar,' Rayna chuffed, swatting him playfully leaning down to pick up her lukewarm mug of green tea. 'Yuckkkk' Rayna coughed, wrinkling her nose in disapproval.

Deacon laughed at her childish behaviour,' Seriously though Ray, when are we gonna be able to do this outside the confides of dressing rooms and bedrooms?' he quizzed, knowing full well that they had done "this" in several other places, but never near actual people.

His eagerness made Rayna smile, she and Deacon had always had a relationship, they had never done the whole sneaking around regime because it had never been necessary. In the early days, they would cavort around in front of anyone who stopped to watch; a frenzy of wandering hands and stolen kisses. Gradually, as the years progressed, the two had become so at ease with one another that they seemed like a married couple, the passion remained, but they had started to pick on annoyances and pet hates. The way she stomped her feet impatiently at him or the way he would always be twenty minutes late to anything; reservations were almost impossible for them. When she had married Teddy, the two had remained as close, just on a platonic level. The crew didn't ask questions when the two of them would disappear to write together. The crew understood the respect that Deacon had for Rayna and visa versa, they understood that Rayna would never do anything to jeopardise her family and the careful frontier she had built around herself. After all, rehashing old memories would do more bad than good.

'Well…' she paused, thinking about what she was about to offer him, bringing him home to the girls meant that they were in it for the long haul. That it was all or nothing, there would be no backing out now, she didn't want to disrupt the already fragile support system the girls had at the minute. 'How about you come round to the house for dinner tomorrow night? Just you. And me. And the girls.'

Deacon's heart sped up, Rayna was _finally _letting him in, letting him be part of her family. 'Yeah,' he grinned, a Cheshire cat-esque smile creeping over his face. 'I would love that.' He said softly, bringing him on top of her so that she was now straddling him.

Rayna brushed the hair from Deacon's eyes, caressing his face, stroking her fingers gently over his short stubble. 'Good,' she nodded, bringing her head down closer to his. Her lips lingered in front of his for a second, before their mouths met and their tongues battled for leadership.

'Rayna…' deacon groaned.

'Deacon' Rayna retorted, mimicking his tone.

'We should probably get a room,' he nodded, hitching her further up onto him.

'We've got a whole penthouse babe, but im fine here. I just hope Bucky doesn't walk in. That would be awkward.'

'Or Juliette…' Deacon mused, laughing to himself at the thought of his former boss interrupting them.

Rayna lifted her palms of Deacon's chest and removed herself from his lap. ' Well that's a mood killer,' she sighed.

'Seriously?' Deacon asked in surprise and amusement.

'Yup, besides Mr, I better be getting you outta here, I don't want any V.I.P.s walking in on us in…let's just say…a compromising situation.' She winked, pulling him up from the couch playfully.

'Fine,' he sighed grumpily, pulling her into a spin before embracing her. 'Let's just stay like this though…for a lil'bit, before the real world invades.'

'Look who's being secretive now Mr,' she chortled, prodding him on the shoulder with her index finger.

'The names Claybourne. Deacon Claybourne.' She heard him whisper under her breath as she pulled her faux-fur leather jacket.

'C'mon, let's get outta here.' She took his hand in hers and led him through the back exit of the arena into her car.

'Keep your mitts off the salad missy, you're gonna ruin your dinner.' Rayna warned her eldest daughter, pointing the chopping knife at her playfully.

'Whatever mom,' Maddie whined, rolling her eyes at her mother.

'Enough of the cheek Madame, I want you both on your best behaviour tonight alright.' Rayna instructed in all seriousness.

'Yes mom.' Her two daughters chimed, fingers crossed in the air in salute.

'Daph, do me a favour and get the tomatoes out the fridge sweetie,' Rayna asked sweetly before turning back to her eldest, 'so did your dad take you to the museum so you could get your assignment finished?'

Maddie slumped down sadly. 'What?' Rayna asked.

'He couldn't come, he was "busy" and then when he was finally finished he had to pick me up from soccer and drop me home. Why can't you just take me?' she whinged, playing with the pieces of cucumber that were in front of her.

'Well you know I'd love to honey,' Rayna lied, museums were not on the top of her bucket list,' but I'm working round the clock on this record label. I gotta find a new act before I launch at the Opry.' Rayna reasoned, hoping her daughter would understand.

'I thought you got found a second act?' Maddie quizzed, becoming more interested by the second.

Rayna watched in amusement as her daughter bounced up, eyes glittering with anticipation, 'Don't get any ideas babe, you're gonna finish school before I sign you to anything.'

Maddie sighed and rolled her eyes , _same old story _, she thought to herself, plastering on a false smile for her mother.

Rayna smiled back, mimicking her daughter's cheekiness. 'Besides,' she continued, 'I'm looking for a guy…' she trailed, not hearing footsteps approaching her.

'What about Deacon?' Daphne chirped up from below the breakfast bar. 'He is a guy.' She added.

Rayna's heart sped up as she saw Deacon casually approach her, he was carrying a box loosely under his arm which he placed gently on the table – totally at ease with himself. Rayna cocked his head and smiled. 'She's right,' Deacon nodded, 'I am a guy.' He winked at Rayna, who was fully aware of his manhood.

Maddie chirped in before Rayna could respond to his flirtation, 'I think my mom's looking for someone a little younger' she giggled, crunching off a piece of cucumber.

'BURRRRN!'Daphne howled, as Rayna and Deacon both looked at each other in beguilement.

'No offence,' Maddie added, still reeling from her previous comment.

Deacon shrugged, letting his hips bump slickly into Rayna's, 'No offence taken…' he smiled, making Maddie shrug, 'But you're not getting any pie.' He smirked, flipping open the cardboard box to reveal a perfectly poised lemon meringue.

'Ooooooh' Daphne echoed, making her sister elbow her in the side.

'Girls stop.' Rayna hushed, before turning to Deacon. 'Thank you for bringing that pie by the way, it looks too good for you to have made it so I appreciate you going out to fetch it.' Rayna quipped, watching Deacon shake his head.

'You know me so well…anything I can do to help?' he asked politely, wanting to make sure that the evening ran smoothly for the both of them.

Rayna exhaled in relief, 'You know what you can do. You can take these people to the other room and keep them occupied whilst momma gets dinner done.'

Deacon clapped his hands together with purpose, 'Alright people, up and at'em people.' he snapped sweetly as Maddie tugged at his free hand.

'C'mon Uncle Deacon, you promised you'd play with us.' She whinged, leading him into the music room.

'Oh I don't know, I saw y'all in New York do Ho Hey, and I hate to admit it but im pretty intimidated.' He said softly, joking but the girls bought it.

Rayna's heart melted a little as she watched her daughters hang on to his everyword as the followed him out of the kitchen.

'Okay, so does that mean you know the song?' Daphne asked sweetly.

'Yeah I could probably pick it up,' he smiled back at her, patting Maddie softly on the back as she handed him a guitar.

'I don't know if I wanna play, im really not that great,' Maddie said softly.

'You kidding?' Deacon looked back at her in disbelief, she was as good as he was at her age; if not better.

Maddie just shrugged not really knowing what to say. 'To hell you're not.' Deacon reassured her.

'LANGUAGE!' Daphne caught him out, making all four of them laugh in symbiosis.

'Sorry, but it's true,' he argued as he sat down opposite the two girls, 'You're better than half the set musicians I've played with,' he comforted her.

Maddie looked up from the Gibson she was tuning, and beamed up at Deacon. 'Really?'

'Absolutely, tell you what. You start off and ill come in behind y'all.' He smiled, watching the girls sit up straight in preparation.

Deacon shut his eyes to embrace the soft tones he found flowing into his ears, 'That's it,' he whispered.

_I've been trying to do it right_

_I've been living a lonely life_

Maddie sung as Daphne followed suit, Deacon looked back over to Rayna, who was perched on a barstool, pretending to chop veg, positively glowing.

_I've been sleeping here instead_

_I've been sleeping in my bed_

Deacon had gotten so lost in the purity of the children's' voices, that he hadn't notice Rayna dramatically drop her knife as Teddy entered the room. A painfully awkward silence filled the vast space as Deacon looked over to Rayna, who stood dumbstruck not knowing what to say. Rayna looked back for support, then over to Teddy to urge him to say something, worried that the girls would pick up on the tension.

Teddy cleared his throat, 'Hey dad!' Daphne ran up to Teddy and wrapped her arms around his legs, clearly oblivious to the tension in the room.

'Hey honey,' he smiled, bending down to kiss her head before waving over to his eldest daughter.

'Hi Dad,' Maddie smiled, not bothering to get up from her place opposite Deacon.

'What's going on here?' Teddy interrogated, shooting daggers at Rayna.

Rayna awoke from the frozen state she was locked in, 'We were, er just making some dinner.' She smiled sweetly, not wanting to freak the girls out OR Deacon for that matter. 'Surprised to see you?' Rayna added, not knowing if she was asking or simply stating the last bit.

'Yeah well Maddie left her soccer gear in the car, figure she'd need it for her game in the morning.' He paused. His lips pursed and his knuckles were clenched.

'Thanks,' Maddie said softly, taking the clothing from her father and placing it on the floor next to her.

Rayna glanced apologetically over to Deacon, who was staring intensely at Teddy.

Teddy smiled down at his daughter, before looking sternly over to Rayna. 'Could I have a word with you please?' he asked, knowing that she would have asked the same thing in a matter of time.

'Yeah, er sure.' She nods, following him into the hallway, stroking Deacon's arm and smiling lovingly down to the girls as she does so.

'What the hell is this Rayna?! I thought I made my position clear and I walk into my house and he is just sitting there?!' Teddy snarls, pointing his finger accusingly towards Deacon.

'Teddy.' Rayna said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation, 'We are getting a divorce, this is not your call.'

'You didn't want them around Peggy and I don't want my daughters around _him._' he spat.

Rayna's mouth formed a perfect 'O', 'You were having an affair!' she shouted in hushed undertones.

'So were you…'

'I was no-'

'Emotionally the entire time we were married!' he yelled, becoming redder and more aggravated by the second.

'Unbelievable…don't you come in here and try to rewrite history…Daphne was not exactly born out of a show of a marriage…we loved each other. That changed. Those girls are always gonna be your daughters but don't you dare think you can come in here and dictate what my life will be.' She fumed, her anger was sky rocketing.

Teddy cocked his head and smirked in disbelief, he didn't reply, but when he saw Deacon approaching he spun on his heels and stormed out the door.

Deacon approached Rayna and wrapped his arms around her waist; he pressed his lips firmly on her shoulder before releasing his grasp so that he could face her. 'Everything alright in here?' he asked.

Rayna exhaled, a strong sense of relief washed over her as she placed her hands on Deacons shoulders. She didn't answer straight away, she needed to process what had just happened between her and Teddy. 'Yeah.' She added flatly before whisking him back into the kitchen.

Plastering on a false smile, she let go of Deacon's hand as she saw the girls watching the closely. 'Alright girls, I hope you're hungry because I have been slaving all day over this dinner.' She winked handing out plates and cutlery to Deacon who was busy preparing the table.


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay guys! finally 1 month after the episode aired. I HAVE FINISHED THIS CHAPTER. even more exciting; BY THE TIME YOU WILL READ THIS I WILL HAVE FINISHED ALL MY EXAMS!YEYEY! but there is a lot of improv in this chapter because we didnt get much stimuli in the episode. but i hope you like it. thank you for all the reviews/favourites/follows please continue to critique i really take into account what you have to say. apologies for any spelling/grammar mistakes because its late and i am SHATTERED.**

**xooxo- Phoebe...p.s. I DO NOT WANNA WRITE NEXT WEEKS EPISODE :'( *SOBS***

'Are you gonna finish that?' Daphne chirped, eyeing Deacon's portion of pie.

Deacon and Maddie laughed as Rayna gave her youngest daughter "the look", 'Daphne Conrad you've got eyes bigger than your belly, finish your own pie first Missy,' Rayna half-heartedly scolded, watching her daughter shrug angelically.

'No, honestly its fine Ray,' Deacon chocked, taking a sip from his lemonade. Rayna had purposefully poured all four of them glasses of soda, she didn't want to bring alcohol out in front of Deacon in such intimate proximity.

'Hmmm' Rayna mused, raising her eyebrow, 'Sucking up to the boss won't get you anywhere Mr,' she sighed playfully, twiddling her fork as she looked down bashfully.

'Boss?' Maddie asked, last she heard, Deacon was on Juliet's band.

'Uh-Hu,' Deacon nodded, smiling over to Rayna whose expression was mimicking his own.

'I thought you were on Juliet's band?' Daphne murmured as she licked the cream off her fingers, avoiding her mother's disapproving look.

'Well, I was,' Deacon sighed, looking to Rayna to say if he could continue on the matter, she shrugged and urged him to continue; he could tell she was embracing her 'I told you so' moment. 'But I, er-'

'Couldn't keep up?' Maddie teased, prodding Deacon on his elongated lower arm.

Deacon chortled and Rayna sat forward, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm, absorbing the conversation.

'No…' Deacon continued, trying to think how to respond without telling the girls the blatant truth which was '_I told Juliet to suck it because she was interrupting your mother and I's private conversation regarding her dismissive behaviour twenty four hours after making love'._ 'Let's just say that Juliet and I have some creative differences…' he mused.

Rayna smirked at the irony, 'If only you had realised that nine months ago Mr Claybourne, could've cost us a fair bit of heartache,' she spluttered out, covering her mouth after realising it wasn't just the two of them in the room.

Daphne and Maddie looked at one another, puzzled, before turning to face the adults opposite them.

'Heartache?' Maddie interrogated, Rayna saw her daughter's body tense dramatically.

'Oh you know, with me leaving your mom's band 'n all? If I had just stayed then maybe your mom would have had it a bit easier the past year?' Deacon explained, trying to diffuse the tension in the atmosphere.

Rayna squeezed Deacon's free hand under the table to say thank you. 'Ohhh,' Daphne exhaled, easing back up.

'BUT,' Maddie added taking a bite of her pie before continuing, 'If you had stayed in mom's band, then she would never have met Liam, and she wouldn't have her new songs so maybe it was good that you left for a bit?' Rayna tilted her head in surprise and confusion, not so much at what her daughter was saying, but how wise she had grown in the past twenty minutes.

'I don't know, I don't think it was Liam who's to blame for your momma's new songs. I think it's all down to your momma.' Deacon found himself saying, his dislike for Liam becoming more obvious by the minute.

'I like Liam, he's a cool guy,' Daphne said aimlessly, not really speaking directly to anyone as she fiddled with her empty bowl. She looked over to Deacon who was sat staring intensely at her, 'What?!' she demanded.

'Oh nothing…'Deacon smiled falsely, not wanting to get into anything he would later live to regret.

'Hmmmmm,' Daphne pouted, raising any eyebrow, before looking once again to Deacon's bowl. 'Now may I have your pie, puh-lease?' she whined sweetly.

'Oh I don't know…'Deacon shrugged,' Maybe you should ask Liam, you obviously think so highly of him,' Deacon muttered under his breath. Rayna kicked him forcefully under the table. 'OWH,' he exclaimed.

'Big baby…' Rayna teased giving him a warning look. It's not that she didn't like to see Deacon jealous, she just didn't want the girls to know WHY he was jealous as it meant explaining that she was briefly entangled with Liam- something she wanted to forget.

Daphne cleared her throat purposefully to regain Deacon's attention. He looked at her blankly, keeping up with the charade. 'Well?' she begged.

Deacon remained quiet for a moment, dramatically pouting as if in deep thought, 'Go on then,' he smiled, switching his bowl over with Daphne's as he watched her smile brightly.

'Thank you thank you thank you!' she beamed, swiftly making her way round to Deacon and latching onto him tightly.

Rayna's heart thudded, a strong feeling of pride erupting from her core. Maddie rolled her eyes as she watched her younger sister suck up to Deacon.

'So Mom, you're debuting Scarlett this weekend aren't you?'

Rayna turned to face her eldest, 'That's right babe, should be fun. Poor girl, I cannot imagine how nervous she is right now.' Rayna mused, looking over to Deacon for input.

'Actually,' Deacon spoke, as he rose from his chair and collected the remaining china from the table, ' I think she's doing alright, or as alright as anyone can be,' he continued, balancing plates comically over his long limbs, making the girls and Rayna collapse into fits of laughter, 'but y'know, she's got Gunnar to support her, besides she's a natural.' He added.

'Sounds like someone I know,' Maddie smiled softly, elbowing her mom.

'Gee thanks,' Deacon winked.

'I was talking 'bout my mom actually.' Maddie retorted matter-of-factly.

'Oh really?' he challenged.

'Yeah really' Maddie rolled her eyes dramatically like any other teenage girl.

'Well, we'll have to do something about that won't we Ray?' he sighed, looking to Rayna who was waiting to see what he did, she was too in awe of his domesticity to respond. She smiled, giving him a nod of approval.

Daphne cocked her head to try work out what was going on, before turning to frown at her sister. 'Nice one Dumbo, now they're plotting against us.' She sighed exasperatedly.

'Hey,' Rayna asserted warningly.

Deacon finished loading the dishwasher for Rayna, by this point the girls had trailed off to put their PJ's on and it was just him and Rayna downstairs.

'Hey,' she grinned cheekily, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck as his lips met hers.

'Hey,' he smiled into the kiss.

'You were pretty great out there,' she relaxed, smiling in contentment.

'As were you.'

'I know,' she nodded in agreement, Deacon laughed at her modesty, 'but I've had thirteen years to get that good, you've had twelve hours.' She sighed.

'Well that's not entirely fair, I've been looking after Scarlett since she moved.' He replied, reassuring her.

'I know that, you don't have to prove anything, but taking on two girls that aren't yours and being a natural, is a bit different than caring for family.' She smiled sweetly.

'Here's the thing Ray, _you_ are my family. Always have been and always will be, the girls too.' he nodded, pulling her closer to him.

Rayna brought her lips to Deacon's they remained teasing each other for a few moments before Rayna withdrew herself from his close grip and swung his arms. 'In that case Mr Claybourne, we had better get you suited and booted for a few Jaymes family traditions.'

'I think by now I'm well equipped for your "traditions" Ray,' he teased.

'Hilarious,' Rayna rolled her eyes but couldn't keep a stern face. 'You may think that now, but just you wait, just you wait,' she trailed off to the bottom of the winding staircase. "GIRLS GET YOURSELVES DOWN HERE, WE'RE GONNA SHOW UNCLE DEACON OUR AMAZING DISNEY TRIVIA PERSUIT SKILLS!' She yelled, looking back over to wink at Deacon, who was watching her in amusement. The pitter-patter of feet echoed throughout the grand hallway, and two excited girls pulled him into the den.

'So you can either be on a team with Me, Maddie or my mom.' Daphne instructed.

'But if you go with mom, there's a 99% chance you'll lose,' Maddie interrupted, wanting a share of Deacon's attention, 'and Daphne doesn't know any films from before 'Finding Nemo' so your best off going with moi,' she pointed to herself.

'Sounds good to me,' Deacon smiled, mouthing a silent 'I'm sorry ' to Daphne, who was pouting with her arms crossed.

'Don't worry Daph,' Rayna patted her daughter's back, 'We'll crush them, and your Uncle Deacon hasn't seen any Disney films other than Old Yeller. Which pretty much damns them to defeat.' Rayna smiled earnestly over to Deacon, batting her eyelids flirtatiously.

'Oh it's on!' Deacon called, not sure why he was becoming so competitive, but he liked the feeling. It felt normal. It felt like home.

- NEXT DAY –

Rayna sighed as she slumped into the lounger at the foot of her bed, her heart was breaking into two pieces. Teddy and finally sunk as low as he could have possibly gone, he was using their children against her. She knew why he had done it. He didn't trust her. He never had, and now she had to choose between the two things she loved most in the entire world; her children and Deacon. 'Shit!' Rayna thought to herself. Deacon was due to pick her up for the CMA rehearsal this afternoon, given the circumstances, this was no longer happening. She thought it best to let him in on Teddy's latest retaliation.

Rayna fumbled about in her Prada bag until she found her phone which was wedged between her purse and her sunglasses. Her fingers skilfully dodged the sticky fingerprints left by Daphne presumably, until she found Deacon's number. The receiver rang twice before Deacon answered.

'Hey,' she could hear him smile.

'Hey,' she replied, sharing his expression.

'So I had fun last night,' he told her, wanting to relieve her from any anxiety over it.

'Me too…even after the whole Teddy situation…' she muttered, not bringing him into the conversation as subtly as she'd have liked.

'Oh _that,_' Deacon sniggered, however he stopped when he failed to hear Rayna laughing with him. 'So er, how'd he take it, y'know after seeing me with the girls?' Deacon asked out of concern, his voice had changed dramatically.

'Not good. Not good.' Rayna replied flatly.

'Pssssht, how bad can it be Ray?' Deacon rolled his eyes, used to Rayna's drama.

'Bad.'

'Quit beating around the bush, what's he done. You know you can tell me anything right?' Deacon asked, not wanting to push her, but he was done with secrets.

Rayna inhaled then exhaled loudly,' Well, he has issued a temporary restraining order stating that I'm not allowed to have the girls within 100ft of you, but er Deac-'

'WHAT?!' Deacon bellowed.

'Let me finish please, don't worry about it, it will never stick I'm Rayna freakin Jaymes for G-d's sakes.'

The pair were silent for a period of time, both thinking about where to go from here. Deacon broke the silence, ' I can still see you though can't I?' Rayna could hear the worry in his voice.

'Absolutely,' she grinned bitter sweetly, she could almost feel his blood pressure decreasing to normality.

'Okay well great, so I will see you at the CMA rehearsal later?' he chirped up, wanting to change the subject so she wouldn't mess up later.

'Of course,' she smiled, 'don't worry about Teddy babe, he's just jealous and feeling replaced.'

'He _is _their father though Ray, I could see where he is coming from. He's just acting like a sonofa' bitch which isn't getting anyone anywhere.'

'Hmmm' Rayna mused, she could remain on the phone with him four hours, neither saying anything but taking comfort in the fact they would always have someone listening to them. But the girls were due home, and it was time to go back to the real world.

'You know what?' Rayna asked coyly.

'What?'

'I love you.' She beamed with joy and pride.

'Good, because I love you too.' He reciprocated, his expression mimicking hers.

'MOM?!' Maddie yelled, making Rayna jump out her skin.

'Listen I've got to go Maddie's here I'll see you later.' She said quietly and quickly as she hung up the phone.

'Didn't your dad and I tell you it was impolite to snoop madam?' she teased, trying to differ from the inevitable conversation.

' I wasn't snooping…but I heard you say I love you.' She retaliated deffensivley as she made her way to sit opposite her mother.

'Right…' Rayna nodded, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

'Who were you talking to?' Maddie intercepted.

'Oh honey, it doesn't matt-'

'But you said I love you. So obviously the person on the other end of that iPhone does matter…' Maddie pondered.

'Well, that was, I er, was speaking to...it was Uncle Deacon,' Rayna paused midsentence as she watched her eldest daughter's expression change from confusion, to hurt, to confusion again until finally she had some sort of smile on her face. 'As you heard all that you should probably know that we are seeing each other.' She smiled, watching her daughter trying to wrap her brain around the situation.

'So you're dating?' Maddie quizzed her mother.

'I wouldn't call it dating exactly, we were together for a long time before I married your dad. So I would say we are where we were before your dad and I got married.' Rayna rambled, stopping every second or so to make sure that her daughter was keeping up.

'So is that why dad got so mad when he saw Deacon here last night?' She interrogated.

'Among other things, your Dad and Deacon have never had the smoothest of relationships,' Rayna put it lightly, 'but it goes a long way back and it's really grown up stuff so when I think you're old enough and ready, I'm gonna tell you all about it. But for now I just need you to trust me alright?' Rayna pleaded, searching the small brunette's eyes for an answer.

'I trust you,' Maddie said softly.

'Thank you honey,' Rayna pulled her daughter in for a deep hug and planted a soft kiss on top of her head. 'I want you to remember that I will never love anyone more than I love you and your sister okay?' she reassured her daughter.

Maddie contemplated replying with some cynical comment about Deacon or her father, but instead just delved deeper into her mother's embrace, trying to piece together what her mom had meant by 'grown up stuff'.

- CMA REHEARSAL –

Rayna rolled her eyes at Deacon as she made her way back stage towards him. Juliette caught on immediately, 'So what y'all together now or something?' she quipped sourly.

'We've always been friends,' Rayna retorted shaking her head at the blonde's tenacity.

'Right,' Juliette rose an eyebrow not believing Rayna's answer, ' "friends".

'Do you have a problem with that? Like the problem you had with the script. And the problem you had with wardrobe. And the problem with the temperature of the water?' Rayna moaned, this girl infuriated her, just when she thought they were finally progressing as professionals, Juliette did a 180 and its been pear-shaped since then.

'Whatever,' Juliette groaned, pushing her way past Rayna so their hips bumped ever so slightly.

'Excuse you.' Rayna spat in shock.

'No actually! Excuse the whole freaking world. I shouldn't have to put up with this crap till I get the respect I deserve. It might not mean a whole lot to 9 time Grammy winner, four time CMA winner Rayna Jaymes, but this award means everything to me. It's the only thing I've got goin' so forgive me if im a bit cranky. But you have no idea what im going through!' Juliet screeched, drawing attention from all corners of the arena.

Rayna looked at Deacon. Deacon looked at Rayna. Neither of them really knew what to say. 'Winning this award wont give you the respect you want Juliette. Something called manners and humility does. Try it sometimes.' She replied flatly, shaking her head towards Deacon as he held out a hand to help her down the stairs.

'I swear, that girl has got 500 miles worth of nerve.' Rayna tittered as Deacon looped an arm around her waist.

'Welcome to my world,' Deacon sighed.

'_Your world?!_' Rayna stammered. 'I do believe it was I that warned you about her. But no you still went and wrote with her anyways.' She teased, prodding him repeatedly in the side.

'You never told me what you thought about that song by the way?' he distracted her from the topic of sleeping with Juliette.

'Well…'Rayna started, it was hard for her to compliment Juliet, but the song was heavenly, 'I liked it. A LOT actually. Y'know once I'd gotten past the fact that you had thrown it in my face.' she quipped angelically, leading him into her green room.

'Well you were being exceptionally stubborn that day if I remember correctly.' He teased, leaning down to peck her on the lips.

'Oh really?'

'Yes.' He stated simply,

'Well in that case I don't know how stubborn im feeling right now. I may be so stubborn I may not want to go through with what I planned for us right now.' She smirked, jumping down from his hold.

'Please, don't let me stop you.' He begged, yearning for her touch.

'No, no, im obviously being stubborn today. You may have to throw another song in my face,' she shrugged, throwing her hands up in the air in an overly dramatic manner.

'Rayna.' Deacon uttered deeply.

'Deacon.' She mimicked his tone, folding her arms and tapping her foot like a child.

'C'mere,' he whispered hoarsely.

'Make me.' She said, knowing that within a matter of moments he would be by her side.

Deacon forcefully marched his way over to her, whisked him up in his arms and carried her over to the couch.

'Here?' she asked.

'Yes ma'am,' he nodded boyishly.

'Alright but we can't be long because we've got the Opry this evening.' She informed him.

'I can work with that,' he nodded.

'Okey dokey cowboy.' She said as their lips crashed into one another.

'Hey daddy,' Rayna smiled meekly, not knowing on what terms her father was with her yet.

'Rayna,' he sighed. Instead of the usual sigh of exasperation it was an unfamiliar sigh of joy and pride.

'I see Tandy has got you on bed rest.' She acknowledged the hoard of books and mugs around him.

'Your sister is delusional, I am perfectly fine. She just has the doctors wrapped around her little finger.' Lamar whined.

'Well that's Tandy for ya' she smirked, standing awkwardly in front of her father.

'Please sit down child,' he gestured to the lazy boy chair next to her, 'And where are you going all dolled up?' he smirked.

Rayna sat and crossed her long legs in front of her,' I am just on my way to the Opry. Im debuting the first act of my label tonight. It's Scarlett actually, remember her, she's Deacon's niece.' Rayna searched her father's eyes for approval.

Lamar smiled, 'You mean that pintsized tornado of blonde ringlets?' he smirked.

'Yes that. Her. Well she isn't a_s _pintsized anymore….speaking of Deacon…er I realise I haven't asked you for a favour since I was 16 years old.' Rayna smiled, that was the last time she truly needed help from her father.

'You're damn right.' Lamar smiled. 'What can I do for you?'

'Well I got served with a restraining order today, from Teddy; saying that I couldn't have the girls within 100ft of…Deacon.' She paused, not knowing how her father would react.

'So you and Deacon, you two are…together?' he said softly. Rayna thought her eyes must be deceiving her, but she was sure she saw the corners of her father's mouth turn up ever so slightly.

'Yes we are.' She stated.

'And you need this, restraining order taking care of?'

'Please.'

'Done.' Lamar said simply.

'That's it?' Rayna puzzled.

Lamar nodded. 'You're my daughter Rayna, I told you I want to make it right with you and im trying. Do not worry about Teddy. Like all powerful men, he's just gotten a bit too big for his britches.' Lamar smirked, taking a slow sip from his tea.

'Thank you daddy.' Rayna got up and kissed the top of her father's head. 'I shall see you later,' she called as she made her way out the library.

'Give 'em hell.' Lamar encouraged, laughing at how perfectly relaxed they were with one another.

'Come in,' Teddy commissioned, not bothering to look up from his papers.

'Hi.' Rayna answered solemnly.

'Hi.' Her soon to be ex-husband replied flatly.

'I just wanted to come by to tell you that I am sorry.' Rayna whispered hoping he would hear her so she didn't have to repeat her apology.

'For?' Teddy pushed.

'For not giving you enough reason to trust me. But you trusted me for thirteen years Teddy. I need you to trust me now. That girl is always gonna be your daughter-'

'Damn right she is!' he interrupted, taking Rayna by surprise.

'But we,' she gestured between the two of them, ' are no longer together. But we are family. Which means we need to put our own feelings aside and do what's best for our daughters.' She pleaded with him.

'If you meant that you wouldn't be with _him_ Rayna.' He retorted.

'Stop it Teddy. Deacon has been around the girls their entire life. Nothing is gonna change. He will continue to be Uncle Deacon for now.'

'For now?' Teddy spat.

'Well Teddy I don't know what is going to happen in the future. But I know that right now, you are the only father for those girls. They love you more than anyone in the entire world. Please trust me when I say that I will never do anything to jeopardise that.' She begged, feeling her eyes heat up from the tears that were forming in their ducts.

Teddy looked around awkwardly. For five minutes or so they say opposite one another in total silence not speaking. Rayna fiddled with her hair as he drank from his crystal.

'I trust you. I just don't trust him.' He muttered. Nothing more needed to be said as Rayna knew then where they stood.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey y'alll! So this might be the last ever chapter for this story. HOWEVER. I am thinking that, if i get chance, i may write the chapter's for the episode in between the pilot and 1x11. Is there a way that i can put them in? if so let me know. if not im just gonna reupload the entire story...gulp...there goes all my views aha. Let me know what you think i should do because its all for you guys really. ANYWAYS. I ****_finally_**** got round to this chapter after just over a month. and its a long one, i hope thats okay with you lot. im pretty emotional about this hiatus which is why i have left it so long. **

**PM me any story ideas you would like me to develop for you. I hope you like this chapter and as ever please review/follow/favourite. Thank you. **

**- This Story is dedicated to two people, firstly; my boss who has given me enough babysitting hours to allow me the peace and quiet and freedom to write most of this story. Secondly, this story is dedicated to ****Fictionally Speaking****, who has become my friend and guidance and straight jacket for most of this journey and without her i probably wouldn't have been able to write it. So thank you very much xxxxxx**

**-Enjoy**

Rayna woke up with a jolt, her nightmare of Juliet throttling her off the stage at the CMAs felt all too real. The ferocious rumbling echoing from her stomach and the pitter-patter of feet, which ran through the corridor, told her it was time to get up.

'Mom!' Daphne squealed

'Hey baby,' Rayna smiled as she rubbed her eyes gently.

'Today's the day…Are you excited?! What are you wearing, who are you going wi-' Daphne pestered, but Rayna cut her off before her daughter could combust.

'Slow down honey, it's too early for questions, but I actually want to talk to you and your sister about tonight over breakfast, I shall meet you downstairs in five ok?' Rayna instructed, using her strength to push herself off her bed.

'Okeydokey' Daphne saluted and plodded off through the door.

'Oh and honey,' Rayna added, speaking to the small head craned around the doorframe, 'go haul your sister out her pit will ya?' Rayna fluttered her eyelids.

'No way…'Daphne held up her hands defensively, 'I am not messing with teenage hormones mom. Especially _hers. _Especially today.'

Rayna cocked her head, last time she had seen Maddie she was perfectly fine. 'She's probably just angry that I'm gonna whip Juliette's sparkly pants ass at the awards tonight..' Rayna mused out loud, covering her mouth quickly when she saw Daphne stood open mouthed in the doorway.

'Mom?!'

'What?' Rayna shrugged.

'How can you say that?!'

'Er…sorry?' Rayna apologised, furrowing her eyebrows.

'Have you not heard?! Where have you been for the past twelve hours…under a rock?!' Maddie snapped, appearing behind Daphne out of nowhere.

'Morning sunshine,' Rayna smiled, but frowned when she saw the girls' bleak expressions.

'Do we need to talk about something?'

'Maybe you should turn on the news' Daphne pointed at the tv opposite her mother's bed.

'Alright. Downstairs, up 'nd at'em people. Big day ahead of us.' She clapped as she ushered her daughter's down the stairs into the kitchen.

Maddie flicked on the tv and switched to the news.

_"JOLENE BARNES. MOTHER OF COUNTRY/POP SENSATION JULIETTE BARNES. FOUND DEAD AT HER HOME LAST NIGHT FROM SUSPECTED DRUG OVERDOSE."_

_'WHAT?!'_ The alarm bells in Rayna's mind rang.

'Mom….mom..'

'Yeah sorry sweetie…I…er…didn't know…that's just awful.' Rayna picked up the remote and switched off the television. 'That's enough of that.'

'I feel so sorry for Juliette.' Daphne empathised whilst her sister and mother nodded in agreement.

'Well no matter what age you're at, it's still awful to lose a mother.' Rayna sighed, feeling warm tears building up in her eyes.

'Or your father.' Maddie intercepted out of nowhere.

Rayna cocked her head and shot a puzzled look at her eldest daughter. 'Hmmmm…' she mused, 'Well you're not losing either one of us so you got nothing to worry about.' She smiled, squeezing her youngest daughter's tender hand.

'mmmm' Maddie grumbled, fiddling with her cereal.

'So, do you think Juliette will still go to the CMAs?' Daphne mumbled as she poured another helping of Lucky Charms into her bowl.

'Probably not honey, but I actually wanna talk to you about the CMAs.' Rayna said softly, wanting to ease the girls into the idea of her and Deacon.

'Go on,' Maddie prompted, already having a slight idea to what her mother was about to announce.

'So, your Uncle Deacon has asked me to go with him, to the CMAS…as his date.' She paused, observing her daughters' faces before she continued. 'And I wanted to know how you feel about that? Because there will be paparazzi who are gonna take all kind of pictures and ask all kinda questions about my personal life…and y'all are the most important part of my private life.'

Maddie and Daphne turned their hades to face one another before responding, it was as if they were trying to silently read one another's mind.

'Well…I do like Deacon.' Daphne beamed.

Rayna smiled at her daughter's comment before turning her head to Maddie.

Maddie took her mother's staring as a hint. 'I like him.' she replied solemnly, still confused and hurt by last night's revelation.

'Well good.'

'So is he your boyfriend then?' Daphne blushed.

'Well we care about each other a lot, so…yeah.' Rayna shrugged, it finally hitting her that Deacon was her boyfriend. They were boyfriend and girlfriend. It came with a funny feeling in her stomach she hadn't felt since she was a teenager.

'You know they dated right?' Maddie dug sourly.

'When did you guys date?' Daphne replied naively.

'Right before she married dad.' Maddie added, searching her mother's face for any change in expression. Maddie saw Rayna tense up, the alarm bells in Maddie's head that were on snooze suddenly rang out. She felt sick.

'Anyways, we best be getting y'all off to school before the day is over.' Rayna soothed, quickly diffusing an increasingly tense situation.

'Can I ride shotgun?' Daphne perked up, shooting a worrying glance over at her sister.

'Course baby,' Rayna nodded, ushering her youngest out the front door.

'Whatever, 'Maddie rolled her eyes dramatically before plugging in her headphones and switching on her iPhone.

Rayna cocked her head to one side so that she could observe her daughter's out of character behaviour. Sure, like most teenagers, Maddie had her moments, but today she was being unusually off. Normally, on the eve of the CMAs, her daughters would be so hyper you'd have thought they'd raided a Starbucks; today however, this was not the case. Shaking her hair out, Rayna hopped into the grey Range Rover and left her reservations at home.

'Just a minute!' Deacon called from the kitchen, he was just closing up the dishwasher he had unloaded, he'd already managed to spill coffee down one shirt and water down another and changed twice more. He was nervous. More than nervous; he was scared. He kept replaying the dream he had dreamt last night; there he was, suited and booted, Rayna on one arm and his Gibson in the other, they were on the red carpet at the CMAs, Tim and Faith had swaggered past them, heads cocked in confusion and the paparazzi were eating them up. _"_So Rayna, you left the mayor for _him"_ he heard one say, the others were just as bad, if not worse. "Snap outta' it Deacon" he whispered before he heard a second knock.

Deacon checked his watch, it was only five, he wasn't due to pick Rayna up for another forty minutes, he had time. 'Probably just Scarlett checking up" he thought to himself. Deacon flung open the door, not at all prepared for what was waiting on the other side.

Maddie.

'Hey?' Deacon chocked, taking in the young girl's face, her eyes were puffy and sore. She had been crying, a lot. He recognised the same expression from that of her mother's many years before, the resemblance was uncanny.

Maddie didn't reply, the violent shaking of her hands told him she was nervous and unprepared. 'Honey what's wrong? Is your mom with you?' He searched behind her, there was no sign of Rayna or Teddy, just a cab.

Maddie slouched and exhaled slowly. "_How do I say this?!_" She silently screamed. 'I think…I think…you might be my father." She stammered, almost keeling over once she had done so. Deacon lurched forward to stop the young girl from falling over.

'What?' alarm bells rang and his stomach fell to the floor. He felt sick. Violently sick.

'Um, i…I think…' she began.

'No…you don't have to erm- why don't you come in I will drop you home later alright?' he stuttered, ushering past her so that he could pay the cabbie and send him on his way.

When he returned he saw Maddie huddled in a cradle on his couch, the same couch he and Rayna had made love on only a few days ago. Deacon awkwardly sat next to her.

'So, er Maddie…' he began, 'You said that you,you er think I might be your dad? Why on earth would you think that?' he sighed, wiping the trickling tears from her cheek.

Maddie wiped her nose and huffed and puffed in order to regain control of her breathing. 'It was yesterday when I found out. I er, I overheard yours and my mom's conversation on the phone. I heard her say I love you to you. And I er, got mad when she wouldn't tell me why my dad got so mad at you so i….' she paused, exhaling and inhaling deeply.

Deacon stared at the floor, his eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to follow. 'So you what?' he whispered.

'So I waited for her to go to the Opry, and I went and found this little grey box she kept in the wardrobe. I saw her put some files in it earlier so I figured if I wanted answers I'd go there…'

'The restraining order,' Deacon mused out loud, covering his mouth immediately after he had realised he had let it slip.

'Whaa-?'

'It doesn't matter. Go on sweetie, this is probably all some kind of mistake.' He reasoned, she couldn't be his. It was impossible. He wasn't even with Rayna near to when Maddie would've been conceived.

'So I broke into the box, it was mostly just legal documents, her first record contract that sorta thing, there was a marriage certificate, Daphne's birth certificate…and mine.' She stopped; an overwhelming feeling of despair engulfed her, unleashing the waterworks.

'And?' Deacon asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

'And it said…it said that I didn't have a dad.' Maddie spat.

'Honey, that's impossible, of course you have a dad.' He patted her back to prevent her from choking on her tears.

'I know I have a dad. I just don't know who it is. The certificate said that my dad wasn't my dad, there was no name. So it has to be you. There isn't anyone else' she whimpered, eyes wide as she took in Deacon's expression.

Deacon grimaced, he ran his hand over his mouth and through his hair. 'Listen, Maddie, there will be a reasonable explanation. The hospital will have just made a mistake or something. Y'know how slack the admin were from when I took you after the Gulch incident.' He smiled, trying to make the situation easier for her. 'But, I can't be your dad. I wasn't with your mom then.'

'But she said you were together until she married dad?' Maddie asked, it dawned on Deacon that Rayna obviously hadn't told her eldest about his addiction.

'Maddie, that isn't exactly true, I was, er sick for some time which is why your mom started dating your dad-'

'BUT HE ISNT MY DAD!' Maddie thundered, marching over to the door.

Deacon sprinted towards her, gently grabbing her arm to prevent her from leaving, 'Hey hey hey!' he soothed, pulling her into a hug.

'I cant even talk to my mom about it because she's goin to the CMA awards and she's gonna be all distracted with clothes 'nd photographers.' Maddie whinged.

'I think this is slightly more important sweetie,' Deacon rubbed her head.

'Not to her. All she's bothered about is walking down that red carpet with you tonight.' She said spitefully, not meaning to hurt Deacon's feelings as it was obvious that she was lashing out at Rayna rather than him.

'Sweetheart, I don't…I don't think that is gonna happen tonight,' he paused, making sure he was positive of his decision. He wasn't picking Rayna up. Her child had come to him for answers on a subject he wasn't even aware of till half an hour ago. This was more important than their CMA appearance. If there was even a chance of Maddie being his, she was the most important thing right now. And heck, if it was true, Rayna was the last person he wanted to see right now. But it most likely wasn't, so he couldn't punish Rayna. His brain told him to give her the benefit of the doubt and that she wouldn't lie to him, she _couldn't _lie to him. Not about this, not for this long. He had too much respect and faith in not only their relationship, but first and foremost their friendship, to believe that Rayna would betray him like that.

'How about I fetch us some coke, and I'll help you out with that chord progression you were hung up on?' Deacon asked as he bent down so he was in the girl's eye line.

'No thanks, I don't really feel like playing right now…but I will take that drink.' She softened, making her way back over to the couch, tucking her knees up to her chin.

'Alright,' he smiled, he checked his watch, he was due to pick Rayna up any minute now. Rayna was impatient at the best of times, but on a night like this, she would be lethal.

-Meanwhile-

'Where the hell is Deacon?!' Rayna yelled into her reflection, swearing under her breath.

It was twenty to six, she was due on the red carpet at seven and traffic would be horrendous. Deacon had arranged to pick her up at five thirty on the dot, which in Deacon terms, meant twenty to six on the dot. But he wasn't here. He was almost always late, but he never for her, never on this night.

'Breathe Rayna,' she whispered, practising a breathing routine she had learnt at the first and only Yoga lesson she had attended. It was the traffic, just the traffic. Rayna stood up and admired her reflection in the mirror, the hair stylist had done a pretty darn good job with her hair, and her dress was the crème de la crème. But none of it mattered if Deacon wasn't there to appreciate it. _'Maybe he isn't ready?' _She thought to herself. Who was she kidding though? Of course he was ready. He was the one who had pushed her to tell the girls. He was the one who gave her the confidence to do so. He was the one who wanted the world to know. So why wasn't he here?

Rayna pulled out her cell phone and dialled Deacon's number. Straight to voicemail. Rayna rolled her eyes, _'so what, Deacon doesn't use his phone at all now?'_.

'Hey babe. It's me, so its knocking on quarter past six and I was just wondering if you're on your way over yet…if not it's no big deal. We've got plenty of time…it's not like there's a whole award show waiting or anything…listen if you could just call me back within the next five minutes that'd be great. Alright, I love you.' She sighed, flinging her phone onto her bed as she paced back and forth. Rayna continued in this fashion for several minutes, as each minute passed it became more apparent to her that Deacon wasn't coming. If he was intending on picking her up he wouldn't make her this late, especially not for their first show reunited. Rayna reached for her iPhone which was strewn face down on the bed.

'Hi, yes this is Rayna Jaymes, I was wondering if you could tell Bucky to please send a limo for me…yes the address is 11 Pinetree Avenue, Belle Meade, thank you…yes well I am looking forward to it…alright now, night, yes thank you once again. Alright, bye y'all.' Rayna scrunched up her face, so she would really be walking the carpet alone, she hadn't done that before. In previous years she had taken Teddy or Deacon, but this year it looked like she would be flying solo.

Rayna tidied the room up, made sure to check she had lip gloss and mints in her clutch before she set off. She had texted the girls to make sure they would be alright, Daphne was with Tandy and Maddie was at a party, she was getting dropped off later. Moments later, the buzzer rang to signal that her limo had arrived; she thanked the driver as she gracefully slid onto the plush leather seats, and began to contemplate what happened to Deacon. Uneasiness bubbled inside her.

'Where the hell is Deacon?' Rayna muttered to Bucky so that only the two of them could hear.

'I don't know Ray, but we're going on in five and you could really do with a guitarist.' Bucky muttered, pulling out his cell phone to call the stage manager.

'Well he was supposed to be picking me up…' she whinged.

'Well maybe he got distracted; he is probably just out in the audience.' Bucky reassured her, patting her lightly on the back.

'He was also supposed to be my date.' Rayna added, shooting Bucky a knowing look.

Bucky knew that Deacon would never miss an opportunity to accompany Rayna, especially not now after all this time. 'So you're really ready to go public with this thing?'

'Well I was, apparently he's not.' she shrugged, she could feel a lump forming in her throat, which wasn't helping the fact she was due on in five minutes.

'Try and forget about that for the next ten minutes, he'll turn up. If he doesn't we have the backup guitarist, all is not lost.' Bucky smiled, directing her left to the side of the stage.

'Rayna Jaymes!' She heard a familiar voice call out.

'Brad Paisley, is that you?' she winked pulling her friend in for a hug.

'Yes ma'am, ' he saluted, before pulling her away and twirling her so he could check her out. 'How am I supposed to sing when you're wearing that?' he winked.

Rayna rolled her eyes at his flirting, ' I think you'll manage somehow.'

'You ready?' He nodded.

'Erm I should be when I fi-'

'Where's Deacon?' he snapped, becoming jittery as he searched the environment around him.

Rayna gulped, she honestly didn't have a clue, 'I have no i-'. She began to answer, but she was cut off by the person in question.

'I'm here, I'm here.' Deacon huffed, he was clearly out of breath. An initial sigh of relief swept Rayna, followed by hurt and confusion.

'You know we're the ones allowed to be late.' Brad smirked, gesturing between Rayna and himself.

Deacon smiled falsely, 'Sorry.'

Rayna strode towards Deacon as he tuned his guitar, 'Hey!' she smiled, placing her hands on her hips so that he could get a good view of the bustier she was adorning.

'Hey,' replied flatly, not bothering too even look at her.

Rayna cocked her head to one side as her eyebrows rose, 'Thought you were picking me up?' she quizzed, his behaviour baffled her.

Deacon shrugged, 'I got waylaid.' Was the only explanation he offered her. The truth was that he had been on his way to drop Maddie home, but he saw the lights on in Rayna's bedroom, so they had waited patiently for Rayna to leave before Maddie tapped in the code that opened the front gates. Deacon had made sure she had got in safely before he trailed after Rayna's limo, however his SUV appeared to have been more traffic prone than the limo which caused him to have only arrived no more than five minutes prior to now.

Rayna stood a back as she watched Deacon hurtle up the stairs as Carrie announced their act.

'What's wrong with him?' Brad shrugged, looking at Rayna for answers.

Bucky intercepted, not wanting to space Rayna out before her performance, 'Er I think he's just a little eaten up about the whole Juliet thing.'

'I bet he is.' Brad smirked, knowing about Deacon and Juliet's history.

Rayna shot him a confused look before adjusting her ears and accepting a hand to help her up the stairs.

Deacon avoided eye contact with Rayna throughout the duration of the performance, if he was to get through it without a fault he couldn't risk having his emotions toyed with. All he knew for sure was that he needed to talk to Rayna, _fast._

-FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER-

'Y'all this is looking great, thank you so much.' Rayna smiled sweetly at the team of makeup artists and stylists that were fawning over her.

'You're welcome Ms Jaymes, we're so honoured to be working with you tonight.' They replied, each doting on her with a new compliment.

'Alright I think we're almost done,' Tracy, Rayna's stylist announced, standing Rayna up from the stool so that she could adjust her dress.

Rayna smiled and lifted her arms up; out of nowhere a knock came from the door. It was Deacon. Rayna stared at him, not really knowing what to say. The team that had been working on Rayna cleared out immediately, Rayna thanked them quietly before staring back at Deacon. He hadn't waited for an answer as he slumped into one of the arm chairs in her dressing room.

Rayna followed and sat across from him, perching awkwardly on the end, she could sense hostility a mile off. Deacon rubbed his eyes; Rayna could see how tired he looked something was obviously eating him up.

Deacon wasn't sure how to even start this conversation, if it was true, he wanted answers, he didn't want anyone beating around the bush, and he and Rayna had already done that dance one thousand times before. 'Maddie came to see me.' He said simply. Deacon searched Rayna's face for any indication of a reaction, the gravity in her eyes told him she knew what he would say next and the depth of her breathing told him she was nervous, very nervous.

'What?' Rayna said softly, she knew what was coming, it all made sense, why Maddie had been acting so bad tempered this morning. She knew. Her baby girl knew.

'She wants to know if im her father…' Deacon saw Rayna avert her eyes from him, he could see the ball dropping. 'She found a certificate that said Teddy wasn't, so she wanted to know if I am. I need you to tell me that it's not true. That you haven't been lying to me, every moment of the last thirteen years.' He pleaded. When Rayna didn't deny it, his breathing hitched, he stood up and paced through the room, he couldn't be close to her right now.

A tingling sensation of utter shock and despair ran through Rayna, she could feel a stinging in the back of her eyes. '_Do not cry Rayna Jaymes. You're not allowed to cry right now.'_ She told herself, she needed to be calm; for Deacon's sake.

'How is it even possible?' Deacon began his interrogation, arms flung in the air out of frustration, 'You wanna start by telling me that?' he spat.

Rayna crossed her arms defensively, taking a deep breath in and choosing her words carefully before she spoke. 'I think the fact that you don't remember, is exactly how it's possible.' She dug. She wasn't sorry for her decision, she had done what was best for Maddie, she was just sorry she had waited this long to tell him.

'What does that have to do with you not telling me that she was mine?' he hushed, trying to remain strong but he could feel himself breaking.

'Try and remember how you were back the-'

'I REMEMBER RAYNA I REMEMBER' He boomed. 'I got sober.' He added gravely.

'Yeah, you did get sober. But it took you five times in rehab and you broke every stick of furniture in my apartment. How could I have that around a baby Deacon?!' she pleaded.

'That's not fair. I was sick. And you're not answering my questi-' he began, but Rayna intercepted him forcefully.

'I am answering your question!' she stormed, before reeling it down a level and letting her emotions take over. She watched as Deacon folded his arms and tapped his foot loudly on the granite floor. 'I found out I was pregnant and I ended up talking about it with Teddy and we agreed to do a paternity test after we were married. And Cole said I should cut you loose because that was the only way you were gonna get better…so then Teddy and I made a decision to do what was best for Maddie and so….'

'So she's mine?'

'Yes.' Rayna replied simply.

Deacon inhaled sharply, his entire world just collapsed around him. Everything he thought he knew had suddenly blown up in his face. He didn't recognise the red head stood facing him, lines of distress painted across her forehead. He closed his eyes for a moment or two, forcing the tears back into his head. He wanted to respond, he wanted to unleash all the pent up anger that had over taken him, he wanted to tell her that she made him sick, that if she ever loved him she wouldn't have done that, that she had taken away his baby. That was his daughter, it should have been him taking her to dance recitals and to the dentist and even to birthday parties; but he couldn't. Rayna didn't deserve acknowledgement at this moment in time. He simply shook his head, flung open the door and made his way to the nearest exit. Rayna backed herself up into the corner of the room, letting the tears she had tried so hard to prevent, engulf her completely. Nothing would ever be the same from here on out.

'You're on in thirty seconds Ms Jaymes.' the stage manager informed her awkwardly, having heard the last minute of her and Deacon's conversation.

Rayna met Teddy at the front door.

'I cannot believe you let this happen. I knew this was going to happen.' He spat.

'Slow down a minute, our girl found out by herself. I don't know how she knows but she knows. And we need to work together, it doesn't matter whose fault it is, what matters is that our little girl is hurting. We need to stop her hurting Teddy.' Rayna stuttered as she fumbled with the keys.

'Here let me do that.' Teddy fetched the keys from Rayna's hands and unlocked the door.

'Thanks.' She smiled meekly.

'Maddie!' Teddy called through the foyer.

'Go away!' he heard his daughter screech.

'She's upstairs' Rayna stated, sprinting towards the grand staircase. Teddy nodded and followed in pursuit.

Rayna rapped several times on the doorway to her daughter's bedroom suite. 'Maddie honey, open the door, please honey I just wanna talk to you.'

'Well I don't wanna hear what you have to say!' Maddie retorted.

'Maddie please.' Teddy pleaded.

'Dad? Or whoever you are, go away.'

'Don't be immature Maddie.' Rayna replied.

'Hey, hey,' Teddy said to Rayna, 'If you want to get through to her, you can't be like that. How about you let me do some of the talking, alright?'

'Fine.' Rayna replied reluctantly as she slumped on the side of the door. She regretted getting locks fitted.

'Maddie, baby, please open the door.' Teddy begged. For a few minutes Teddy and Rayna stood leaning against the door, absorbing the silence and the fumbling that came from the other side, before Maddie finally opened it.

Rayna delved in for a hug, 'Get off me.' Maddie cried. Both parents were taken aback by the sight of the room. Photos, toys, books and Rayna's guitar were strewn over the floor. The pictures had been ripped and there were tens of tissues discarded over the bed, it was obvious she had been in here for a while.

'I didn't know you were home.' Rayna said softly.

'We waited till you had left before I came in.' she replied coldly.

'We?' Rayna quizzed.

'Me and Deacon.' She answered, glaring at her parents who were looking between one another in distress.

'Deacon told me you went to see him.' Rayna replied, gulping as she remembered the confrontation that had transpired only an hour ago.

'Yeah well someone had to. It's not like either of you were gonna do it. And you say you love him.' she dug at Rayna. Teddy looked awkwardly to the ground; it was still a sensitive subject for him.

'Maddie, sweetie, I spoke to Deacon earlier, I told him the truth.' She confessed, hoping it would somehow make the situation better; it only made things worse.

'So Deacon _is _my dad.' Maddie stated, shaking her head in exasperation.

'Biologically yes honey,' Teddy cut in, wanting to diffuse the young girl's answer, 'but I raised you and I will always be your dad. And I loved your mother very much and decided it didn't matter.' He kicked himself mentally for the last bit.

Maddie's eyes grew wide. 'IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO MY FATHER IS?!' she boomed, rolling her eyes as she picked up a backpack and began packing her prized possessions.

'Honey it doesn't matter, he loves you the same way he loves your sister.' Rayna intercepted, they had said they would work in a team to get her through it, but neither approach seemed to be working. 'The decision we made at the time was because we loved you so much and wanted to give you the best life possible.'

'But how could you marry her if you knew she was pregnant by somebody else?!'

'Well we didn't know that at the time, but honey I don't love you any less.' He pleaded; he could feel his emotions taking over him. He wanted to run up to her and apologize and make the pain go away. He wanted to cry and show her how much he loved her, how she was the most important thing in his life. But he couldn't. He needed to be strong, for Rayna and Maddie.

'Whatever,' Maddie spat, turning around to gather more belongings.

Rayna picked up on Teddy's distress immediately, she knew him so well to know that these girls were the most important thing in his life, he'd be broken if he lost them. 'Sweetie, it was such a complicated situation and its so hard to understand-'

'No actually it's not. I understand it all. Stop treating me like a child. You lied to Deacon and you lied to me.' She snapped at Rayna, trying to get control of her breathing. She paused for a moment before continuing. 'Daddy I want to live with you.'

'What no.'

'No. This is all your mistake, me even being born. This is all your fault.' She cried, before picking up her rucksack and storming out the room, leaving a trail of tears behind.

'No honey, that's not true. Maddie wait. Just wait, come back,' she pleaded as she began to run after her, but Teddy stopped her.

'Rayna, look just listen.'

'What?' she snapped, looking over her shoulder to see how far her daughter had made it.

'If she needs to work through it this way just let her do it. You promised me that I wouldn't lose her now im promising you the same thing.' He promised.

'I can't lose her Teddy. She is the most important thing in my life, if something happ-'

'I won't let anything happen Rayna but I need you to trust me on this. You just need to give her some time.' he said softly.

Rayna watched as he swiftly chased after Maddie, it was in situations like this that made Rayna confident of her decision. Teddy may not have been the best husband at times. But he was _the _best father she had ever seen, and like she did, he loved those girls more than anything in the world.

Deacon took in his surroundings, he hadn't been here for thirteen and a half years. This was the last bar he came to before sobering up, it felt fitting he was back again. 'Well Deacon, you've come full circle.' He muttered to himself.

A thin, greasy looking bartender made his way over, mopping the bar as he moved. 'What can I get'ya?'

Deacon paused, was he actually about to do this. Throw away thirteen years of sobriety for one night. Who was he kidding. Of course. Those thirteen years, they had been a lie. His sobriety was a lie. He had only kept sober for Rayna. But she didn't matter anymore. She had lied to him. She had taken away their child. All Deacon had ever wanted was family, and she full well knew that. But still. She had lied to him. She was his soul mate, his best friend. You don't do that to your best friend. 'I'll take a JD on the rocks.' He ordered, flicking his finger to signal the bartender to get a move on.

The bartender returned seconds later, drink in hand. 'There you go. That will be five bucks.' Deacon whipped out his wallet and slammed the money onto the counter top. He stared down into his glass, the pool of whiskey below him looked pretty darn inviting. He had missed the way it swirled in the glass, the way the light danced threw the ice cubes. The drink had his full attention, until something on the television caught his eye.

It was the CMAs. Of course they would be showing it.

_And the nominees for female vocalist of the year are…Rayna Jaymes…Juliet Barnes._

'Great.' Deacon mumbled under his breath. 'Could you turn that off please.' He asked the bartender how groggily complied.

'Not a country music fan eh?' he smirked.

Usually Deacon would've laughed, not tonight though, not after all that had happened. 'Not tonight.' He replied flatly.

Deacon looked down at his full glass. The sound of Rayna's name was already sending him over the edge. Hastily, he brought the glass to his lips, the shaking of his hands worried the bartender, but he didn't speak. Deacon parted his lips, allowing the liquid to flow. Deacon gasped. The sweet and sooty whisky tantalised his taste buds and engulfed his senses. Every hair on his body was stood straight as electricity ran through his blood. Everything felt alright. The pain was less now and he found comfort from the one thing that never let him down.

'You alright man?' the bartender, who had been watching closely, quizzed.

'Yes.' Deacon lied, but the world didn't need to know his business. Deacon sighed and relaxed into the barstool. 'Actually sir, I think I'll have another.' Deacon requested, both shocking and exciting himself.

'C'ming right up.' The bartender informed him, as he watched Deacon make his way to the booth at the back…where he remained for most of the night.

Rayna leaned back in her car. She hated cemeteries, more than she hated hospitals. She sought comfort in the fact that here no one would be watching her, especially not today. She wasn't entirely sure why she had come. Juliet and she had never seen eye to eye. But this girl just lost her mom, which was something she could relate to completely. Coleman had left at the same time as her, only he had gone to find Deacon. She knew it was bad, she could sense it with every fibre of her being. She didn't blame him. It was a disease. She just hoped that it wouldn't escalate; she didn't have the energy to stop it from destroying them. She was a mother now and no matter how much she was completely awe-inspiringly in love with Deacon; her daughters came first and they can't be exposed to an alcoholic.

Rayna pulled her sunglasses over her red eyes as she dialled Deacon's cell,' Hey, so it's just me. I just got to this funeral, and im really hoping im gonna see you here. Deacon please call me, please.' She pleaded. 'Please im begging you. I love you babe, I just need to talk to you.' She whimpered hanging up the phone before making her way over to the congregation that was gathering.

Juliet noticed Rayna immediately. 'Hey.' She smiled softly.

'Hi,' Rayna replied, looking around awkwardly at how intimate the funeral was; she didn't realise so few people were attending.

'I didn't think you were gonna come.' Juliet quipped, smiling down at her peeptoes.

'I didn't either to be honest, but I thought it was only right, you know…after everything we've been through.' Rayna said honestly.

'Well thank you, I really appreciate it.' Juliet nodded, making her way over to sit on one of the marble benches. Rayna followed her, not wanting to be alone right now.

'My momma would've loved this funeral you know. Flowers, sunshine…' Juliet mused, taking in the environment, 'You.' She added pointing to Rayna.

Rayna cocked her head sideways, taken aback. 'When I told you that my momma was your biggest fan that night in the Opry, I wasn't lying. She really was. She used to dance around the trailer to "American Beauty" and she'd belt out "It's My Life" for days on end after one of her boyfriends dumped her.' Juliet confessed.

Rayna blushed slightly, she wasn't fully sure if Juliet was offending or complimenting her. 'Anyways, I just guess that I resonated you with all her troubles y'know…and I never meant to be how I was with you…I guess in some twisted way you just reminded me of her…or of how I wanted her to be…she would sing "It's My Life" but she would never deliver what the lyrics meant I guess.' Juliet looked away bashfully, she had never ever ever told anyone that, not even the shrinks she had seen, that was the most personal thing she had revealed to anyone since the night of Deacon's birthday.

Rayna wanted to take the subject off her, today wasn't about her it was about Jolene. 'You know, I lost my momma too. Granted, it was under different circumstances but I have some idea what it feels like…'

'You have no idea.' Juliet mused, looking slyly over to Rayna. 'You don't know what it was like to grow up with a mom like that. I grew up in the dirt. Everything was filthy. And now I get to put her back in the dirt…I've been living my life knowing that this day would come…dreading it…wanting it…hating myself for wanting it…I guess I just always thought that if I was good enough, then she'd be alright…and I tried to be good, but I was always gonna fail.' She mused, trying to discover some deeper reason for her mom's selfishness.

Rayna gulped after listening carefully, she had never heard anything so honest in her entire life. 'That's not true.' Juliet turned her head so that she had direct eye contact with Rayna. 'You're good enough.' Rayna nodded. She had meant it regarding her behaviour, but she also meant it professionally and artistically. Sure Juliet had started off making pop songs for pre-teens- but who hadn't? Like Rayna, she had grown and developed, with the help of Deacon.

'Do you…er…do you know if Deacon is coming?' Juliet asked meekly.

Rayna's eyes lit up. The conversation with Juliet had caused her to momentarily forget about Deacon's current situation, and a whirlwind of worry swept over her once again. 'I don't im sorry.' She shook her head.

'Oh I just figured that you two would be coming together now that y'all are together again…' she whispered.

'Mmmm, you and me both.' Rayna added sarcastically. Juliet rose an eyebrow in confusion, 'Sorry its just…no actually it doesn't matter..'

'Not to sound stalkerish or anything, but im really glad he has you again. You do not know what it was like always having to be second choice to you. I cannot tell you how many writing sessions he left because he got a call from you.' She smirked. Rayna joined in, finding some common ground at last.

'Well I'm sorry. I know you were just trying to find your mark in the business. And I know how much he values your support as a friend.' Rayna smiled for the first time that day. Deacon could use someone like Juliet right now.

'Thank you…we should probably get over there…I think it's about to start.' She nodded, gesturing to Rayna to follow her.

Rayna shot up immediately; searching the vast field for any sight of Deacon, there was none. Rayna found her place by Juliet's side, she bowed her head and folded her arms in front as she listened heavily to the Pastor's sermon and prayers. When it was over, she hugged Juliet tightly and turned to make her way back to her car. She had agreed to go over to Teddy's and meet Maddie.

'Hey Rayna,' she heard Juliet call and she turned around so she was facing her.

'Yeah?' She asked sweetly.

'I was..er…I was just wondering if you, if you wouldn't mind coming to the Bluebird tonight? Around eight? Im holding a wake there for my momma, it was her favourite place. She used to sneak in on Thursday nights before I was born…and yeah…I was just wondering if you would like to come? Deacon too…it would really mean a lot to me.' She smiled.

Rayna cleared her throat and nodded. 'Yeah, er, of course I'll be there. But you're gonna have to ask Deacon yourself because my phone broke…'she lied, not wanting to inform Juliet of her current problems.

'Thank you and I will. See you later.' She said, pulling Rayna in for a hug.

'Bye.' Rayna waved softly as she hopped into the SUV.

By the time Rayna had reached Teddy's night had fallen. She quickly parked and plodded up the steps, trying not to break her ankle in the heels she was wearing. Oh how she wished she had her boots on. Rayna inhaled deeply before slickly pressing the bell. It was now or never, she needed to prove to Maddie she was the most important thing, along with Daphne, that nothing else mattered right now.

The door swung open, 'Hey Rayna,' Teddy whispered.

'Hi…why are you whispering?' Rayna asked confusedly.

'Maddie's in the front room, she er, doesn't know you're coming.' He confessed, hands in pockets.

'Teddy.' Rayna warned.

'Relax Rayna, it's not like she can go anywhere, I'll be out her so that you two can have your space' he reassured her.

'Alright, fine. Ok where am I going?' she asked, realising she had never been to Teddy's new house.

'First door on the left,' he pointed down the hall.

'Er thanks.' She said, awkwardly edging her way past her ex-husband.

'Knock-knock,' she said playfully tapping on the living room door, trying to lighten the tone of the house.

'Go away.' Maddie ordered.

Rayna ignored her and made her way to the couch adjacent to her daughter. 'Well I'm sorry honey but that's not gonna happen.'

'Whatever.' Maddie said flatly. Edging further away from her mother.

'Maddie please talk to me,' Rayna begged.

'Fine mom. Let's talk. Let's talk about how you lied to me my entire life. How you lied to Deacon who you supposedly "love". How you lied to Daphne. What about Daphne? She's never gonna look at me the same after this.'

Rayna looked to the floor, to be honest she had been so preoccupied with Maddie and Deacon she hadn't considered how Daphne would take the news. 'That doesn't matter right now. All that matters is you.'

'Great. If you meant that you wouldn't have kept this from me.' She spat folding her arms around her stomach.

' I didn't lie to you honey.' Rayna said softly.

'Excuse me?!'

'I just didn't tell you the truth. Yes Deacon is your biological father, but Teddy. Your dad. The man on the other side of that door is your dad. And always will be. Genetics are one thing. But your dad has given up his life to raise you, and he loves you just as much as I do. That's what matters.' She pleaded.

'I bet Deacon could have done that if you had only given him the chance.'

'No honey. Deacon was…he was…sick. He couldn't raise a child. I married your dad because I loved him, and because I wanted to give you a father who loved you just as much as I do. And I love you more than anyone in the entire world. And Deacon, he just couldn't do that back then.' Rayna searched her daughter's eyes for any sign of surrender. 'And it would be nice if you didn't hate me.'

Maddie rolled her eyes to prevent herself from crying, she had done enough of that in the past 48hours to last her a life time. she didn't hate her mom. She was just scared; she was just hurt. But she loved her mom. And she loved her dad. She wasn't in any way alright with what they did. But she didn't hate them. 'I don't hate you mom. I don't hate you.' She whispered as she climbed onto her mother's lap and was pulled into a deep embrace.

Rayna hugged her daughter tightly, not wanting to loosen her grip in fear of losing her if she let go. 'Shhh,' she comforted, soothing her daughter's back as she let her whimper into her.

'Mom?'

'Yes baby?' Rayna asked.

'Have you…have you spoken to Deacon…since, y'know…' Maddie quizzed, looking deeply into her mother's eyes.

Rayna gulped and cleared her throat before answering. 'No baby I haven't. he isn't answering my calls and to be honest you're who im worrying most about right now, okay?'

Maddie nodded and nestled into her mother's neck. 'Just make sure he's alright.' Maddie uttered, taking Rayna by surprise.

'I will baby.' She promised, not knowing if she would be able to keep it or not, but she sure as hell was gonna try. For Maddie's sake.

Rayna spent the evening with Maddie, making ice-cream sundaes and watching painfully dire auditions of American Idol, before looking down at her watch and realising that it was half past seven. Rayna shifted, finding her keys in her bag.

'Mom?' Maddie quizzed.

'Yeah?'

'You're leaving?' Maddie asked dis-heartedly.

'Yes, sorry baby but I promised Juliet I would go to her mother's wake at the Bluebird tonight.' She admitted, waiting for a sarcastic comment off her daughter. Nothing. Maddie just smiled. 'What?' Rayna asked coyly.

'Nothing. I just…I think it's nice that you're going. She could really use a mom like you.' Maddie smiled. She hadn't forgiven her mom yet, that would take time, but she didn't want to damage their relationship any further.

'Thank you. Right. Be good for your dad okay? I will see you soon. I love you.' She said leaning down to kiss her daughter gently on the head.

'Love you too!' Maddie replied softly as she watched her mom make her way out the house.

Rayna clambered into her car, and texted Juliet to let her know she was on her way. Driving gave her time to think and clear her head. She had begun to repair the bridges burnt with Maddie, she was well aware that it was going to take more than one evening, but it was a start. Deacon on the other hand, was a different matter entirely, she hadn't seen him since yesterday, and Cole had called her earlier to let her know that he had him. he wasn't sober. But he wasn't as bad as he used to be, which was some relief. Still, if he had fallen off the wagon this soon, what would he have been like if he had found out ten years in the future? The thought sent a shiver through her spine.

Rayna pulled into the parking lot at the bluebird just after eight, traffic downtown was mental and she was lucky she even had a place to park. She immediately found Juliet, perched on a barstool on stage, her band prominently backing her. Juliet smiled when she saw Rayna, Rayna returned it with a meek wave, before making her way to the spare seat next to Marshall.

'Rayna.' Marshall nodded.

'Marshall.' Rayna mimicked his tone. 'How's she holding up?' she asked, pointing at Juliet, who was setting up her mic.

'I don't know, she's hard to read. Lovely idea hosting at the bluebird. Very touching.' He commended.

Rayna nodded in agreement, 'Yes it is.'

'Is Deacon coming?' Marshall asked her.

'Excuse me?' Rayna responded, not realising that anyone else knew about herself and Deacon.

'Sorry, Bucky let me know at the CMAs after you left, I was just wondering why you were upset. He said it's because Deacon didn't pick you up…and that the two of you are back together.' He explained.

'Right.' Rayna nodded solemnly, she was ok with him knowing that, there was no way she would ever reveal the real reason for her distress to him.

'So,' Juliet began to speak from the stage, 'Most of you probably know that my momma passed away recently…and she wasn't perfect…' Juliet smirked, 'In fact, she was kind of a mess, but she was my mess. But she was my mom, and I loved her anyways, and she loved me. But her biggest dream was to see me sing at the bluebird…so, I hope you're here tonight momma. This one's for you.'

Rayna smiled softly, feeling the tears brimming in her eyes as she rubbed them vigorously.

'You okay?' Marshal puzzled.

'Yeah. Er just a rough couple of days.' Rayna lied, listening to the melody echoing throughout the café.

_I finally kept my pride_

_And hailed a cab_

_Those cutting words you said_

_Were the last stab_

_They'll be no tears this time_

_They've all dried up_

_No more sweet poison _

_I already drank that cup_

_This tunnel's dark but there's a little light glowing_

_Just enough for me to run towards knowing _

_Nothing in this world will ever break my heart again_

Rayna was pulled out of the trance of the song when she heard the door creak. He came. He actually came, she rubbed at her eyes to make sure they weren't deceiving her. When she saw that he was still there, all 6ft3 of him, she grabbed her purse and bolted for the door. However she was too late, he saw her sat there and turned around immediately; he couldn't handle being in such close proximity to her.

'Hey!' Rayna called after him as she watched him stumble towards is truck.

'Leave me alone.' He replied, not bothering to even look at her as he slid in.

'C'mere,' she pleaded.

'Go away.'

'No, listen, I wanna talk to you.' She begged.

'Leave me alone Rayna.' He uttered.

'No come on, babe, I really need to talk to you.'

'Please, G-d go back inside.' He cried in exasperation.

That's when it hit Rayna. That smell. She knew it too well to mistake for anything else. Obviously he had showered and tried to make himself presentable, but it clung to him like wasps to a jam jar.

'Are you drunk?' she whispered, already knowing the answer.

'Please go back inside.' He whinged, pointing her in the direction of the door.

Rayna cocked her head at the sight of him. 'Slide over. Right now.' She ordered, pushing him with all her strength into the passenger seat, he wouldn't budge. Deacon fought, discarding her hands easily until her torso was against his, he pushed her so that she stumbled backwards.

'DAMMIT RAYNA LET ME GO!' He boomed, eyes scrunched in frustration.

'GET OUTTA THE CAR RIGHT NOW!' she instructed, looping one arm around his so that she could drag him out. He complied, forcing his weight onto hers to make it difficult for her.

'If you think. This means I forgive you, you've got another thing coming.' He spat at her.

'Try concentrate on being able to make it to the door without keeling over and then we will see if you are well enough to fight.' She snapped, used to their game of push and pull, they had mastered it over a decade and a half ago.

'Whatever. Let go of me.' He shrugged her off, made his way into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut in her face.

Deacon watched as Rayna made her way into the driver's seat, he couldn't stand being this close to her. How can she act so casually when she lied to him for thirteen years. When she stole their baby. '_She hasn't even apologised.'_ He thought to himself, glaring at her.

Rayna ignored his glares, but could feel his eyes burning on her side profile. 'You want the radio on?' Rayna asked. Music used to always make him better, ease up his pent up anger. Deacon didn't reply, he just sat looking out into the darkness.

The pair sat in silence until Rayna had manoeuvred the truck out of the car park, they were almost completely blocked in, if she had spoken she probably would have hit something there and then. 'Babe will you please talk to me?' she begged.

Deacon sighed, he figured he may as well get it over and done with, that way he wouldn't have to see her once the car journey was over. 'What would you like to talk about Rayna. Its night so the weather is off limits. Sports? Politics? How is Teddy by the way? It must be hard to be the mayor and steal someone else's child.' He spat.

'Stop it.' Rayna commanded, she knew what he was doing. Pitting himself and Teddy against one another, seeing who her trust was really aligned to.

'Why Rayna?! Because you'll lose faith in me? You'll leave me again? Are you pregnant….is that it?' he snapped, becoming more bitter by the second.

'I never lost faith in you! You lost faith in yourself!' she cried, they both knew that she was the one person on this planet who had the upmost faith in him. She always had and always will.

'Take a good look Rayna. I'm a drunk. A drunk. You've known that all along and that's why you stole our baby.' He cried, his emotionally high clearly kicking in.

'I didn't steal her. I gave her a good upbringing. I gave her a father who could actually be there for her, who we wouldn't find passed out or dead on the kitchen floor.'

'That's not fair!'

'That's not fair?' she mocked. 'I'll tell you what isn't fair, what isn't fair is finding out you're pregnant and that your partner is in hospital having his stomach pumped for the fiftieth time. What isn't fair is the thought of having to raise a baby with a drunk. You weren't sober Deacon. And I couldn't take the chance; for Maddie's sake. ' she pleaded with him, trying to get him to understand.

'You didn't give me a chance Rayna. I would have gotten sober. I was sick not malicious. I wasn't intending for it. All I ever wanted in life was a family. You were my family. That baby was and is my family. And you took that away from me.' He cried, tears coming from his eyes. 'And what's worse. You didn't even tell me about it. Were you gonna tell me about it, ever?!'

Rayna didn't respond, she just shook her head.

'Exactly.' Deacon said softly, reaching out for the bottle of Jack in the arm rest.

'Don't you dare pick up that bottle Deacon. Don't you dare.' She protested, reaching over to pry the bottle from his hands.

Even as a drunk he had so much strength, she moved her body so that she had more control on him than on the wheel, which was when she saw it in her peripheral vision. A car. Coming straight towards them. Rayna released her hand from the bottle in order to swerve fluently, but she was too late, her left hand on the wheel had responded too quickly. The tires screeched in pain against the tarmac as they contorted against the metal of the SUV. Rayna screamed. Deacon screamed. The car screamed. Then it flipped, and flipped, and flipped.

Their hands scrambled to find one another, grasped together tightly before everything went black.


End file.
